A Whole New World
by fuzzy-christmas-socks
Summary: When Harry gets transported to Middle Earth, he doesn't realizes what changes are in store. Bitter and alone, he must relearn how to open up and live again. LOTRHP cross: eventual HarryxLegolas.
1. Arriving

Disclaimer: Tolkien and Rowling own these characters, yada, yada... you guys know the drill.

With a screech, the jet black phoenix was engulfed in a sickly green light and then disappeared.

When Harry awoke it was dark. Strange. He remembered the pale fringe of dawn; the battle had raged throughout the night and the streaks of light, timed with Voldemort's demise, had imparted an almost spiritual effect on the weary hero. Voldemort. Dead. But someone else had died... He remembered the light, the color of his eyes, and it hit him. He died too. A Death Eater most likely, though Harry of course couldn't tell which one. He had turned just in time to see the light and the dark hood behind it.

Several wounds made themselves loudly known.

He ignored them with ease and slowly folded his wings and stood up. Looking around, the land did not seem familiar. While Hogwarts had been largely destroyed by the battle - the lake polluted and great gaping holes in the ground from the giants - it couldn't match the barren and deadened area where he stood. Even the sky was depressing, a sort of perpetually overcast and gloomy look to it. Off to his right rose a huge mountain with thin trickles of lava dripping down. Off to his left stood a wall covered in dirt and slime, but beyond that Harry saw light.

So it was daytime. Just not in this shadowy land.

While slightly reassuring, it certainly wasn't Hogwarts - where Harry could last remember fighting in. In fact, it did not look like anyplace Harry had ever seen.

Resolving to leave this desolate piece of land immediately, Harry took a few shuffling steps forward. Birds are ungainly on the ground but he wasn't sure if his wings were badly damaged. He planned on hobbling the whole way, until he came to the nearest outcropping and saw what he hadn't noticed before in the valley below.

It was, like everything else, covered in darkness. But unlike the human Harry Potter, his phoenix form had very good eyesight. Still, he had to look hard because he wasn't sure what he was seeing. It seemed as if the shadows were moving - like they were sentient. Then a feeble beam of light shone through the clouds and confirmed that the black form was some creature, though not any creature Harry had ever seen before. Or wished to meet for that matter. They looked like a cross between a Dementor and something even nastier, and they moved with the grace of a predator. All sported some off-kilter feature, be it misshapen heads, extra appendages, and a lovely mucus-colored skin.

There went that plan. He was so flying, wings be damned.

Hopefully they had already begun healing; magical creatures did heal faster than their Muggle counterparts, and phoenixes faster than most of the former. The perks of being a creature of healing, and all that. But that last battle had not been an isolated battle, and his reserves of magic and energy were dangerously low.

At least he would blend in. Harry, much to his surprise, was a shadow phoenix. He had thought that Fawkes, a fire phoenix, was the only type of phoenix around - a fact that Hermione had quickly corrected him on. As the name implied, he had an affinity with shadows; and like Fawkes could transport through oxygen-rich areas, he could flit through the dark patches of shadow.

Many of his other phoenix abilities were similar to Fawkes', yet more suited to his form as well. For instance, instead of singing to uplift or inspire, Harry could use his voice to sway other peoples' emotions. Which Harry didn't do. Much. It had the potential to subvert people's feelings and he had had enough of manipulation for anybody. His tears could heal, but also poison. And of course, he could carry immensely heavy loads, though Harry didn't know when that would ever be useful.

Unfortunately, these traits had made many fear him back in the other world. Their looks had increasingly grown with mistrust and suspicion. In fact, if they hadn't thought only he was capable of defeating Voldemort, he would probably be in Azkaban right now. Knowing his luck, he would have had some sort of freaky phoenix power that granted him control over Dementors. But none of this matter now, he reminded himself. Focus. Where the hell was he?

He started jumping through the shadows, careful not to disrupt any of the small troll-like things. It wasn't problem; the whole land was shrouded in darkness, so Harry could chose with care where he would appear. He almost reached the imposing gate when he landed on a shadow that suddenly assumed shape. It had no definite form, but Harry certainly felt its weight when it started attacking him.

Making a muted squawk of surprise, he quickly reverted back to a human. Phoenixes were great for subterfuge, not for battles. He conjured a sword - damned if he knew where those ever came from - and attacked. Back in the war, Harry learned to conjure and use some Muggle weapons to surprise his pureblood attackers with. He wasn't very good at them, of course, but he knew had to aim and thrust. That was usually enough, and so it proved to be with this being. However, its death had attracted the notice of several others, who quickly joined the fray. Then even more. Soon enough, he was surrounded.

Harry decided fighting would get him nowhere and was soon hopping through the shadows, thankful this ability transferred to his human form. The gate wasn't too far away, yet the creatures attacked him at every chance, further injuring him. Several troll-like creatures also noticed the disturbance and decided to join in the fun. By the time he reached the gate, he was more beat up than before, a feat which he thought was impossible. He summoned a last burst of energy and jumped to whatever shadow was behind the gate…

The problem with shadow walking was when you didn't have a destination in mind. If that was the case, you would just arrive at the next shadow in the direction faced before the jump. And that shadow could be anywhere.

Less than a second later, the battered form of one Harry Potter appeared at the outskirts of some sort of town.

Tired eyes surveyed the scene. Looking over the small town, Harry concluded that it served primarily as a guard base, probably against those trolls and shadows. A river ran through the town, providing a natural defense as well. Then he noticed the guards.

A moment too late; he heard a shout and then darkness overtook him.

Harry awoke in chains.

He immediately panicked, almost starting to hyperventilate. He had just spent several months (he wasn't sure exactly how long, mind you) in the company of Voldemort and his merry band of Death Eaters. Though he never showed them any fear, they left lasting marks on his psyche.

The weight on his wrists and ankles reminded him of all the pain he went through. Pain, upon pain; unimaginable pain.

He couldn't take it anymore. He had to get out now.

A burst of wild, wandless magic surged through him, blasting off the chains and the enclosed prison. He heard guards shouting, but didn't care. He raced through the shadows, intent on escaping the city at all costs. He slipped into the nearest alleyway and transformed, throwing himself into the air. No one had seen him and he stared down at the unsuspecting guards below. Then he hightailed it out of there.

When he was sufficiently away from the city, he looked back. It wasn't the guard town he awoke in; it looked like a giant castle cut into the side of a mountain. Harry shivered, remembering his prison was surrounded by rock; it was probably inside of the mountain.

He saw men on horseback riding out from the city. It was time to be going then. No use sticking around here. He began to fly lopsidedly away, uncaring of the direction as long as it was away. When night appeared, Harry perched in a tree - different from those back home - and immediately fell asleep from the exhaustion of the day's events.

A/N: So this story was falling stagnant (as many of you noticed by my lack of updates!). I've reworked these original chapters a bit, so it flows better and I've written an additional three more chapters! Please bear with me while I try to replace the chapters and add new ones, and I'm going out of town later today. But hopefully you'll enjoy the new chapters!


	2. Meetings

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters! They belong to Tolkien and Rowling.

Harry awoke to birds chirping in his ear. He nearly fell off the tree, until the events of yesterday came rushing back.

Weird creatures attacking him for no reason and then being captured and chained by humans. Why did everything ever happen to him? Couldn't, for once in his life, someone have looked at him and said 'hey, what an unremarkable boy. I'm going to continue on with my life and forget about him'. But no, fate was cruel. Well, to hell with fate and people and shadow things. He was going to find some nice little cave and lock himself away from the world.

With that cheery thought, he resumed his flying, in what he hoped was the opposite direction of the city.

For several weeks, Harry flew, ate berries, slept, and flew some more. He avoided any and all forms of civilizations. Finally, he arrived at the edge of a forest. Harry felt conflicted; part of him wanted to lose himself in its woods, in the air which seemed to sing to him of magic, mystery, and love. A very small part hated and feared the forest, and it felt the forest's underlying hostility.

Harry ignored that part and happily entered the forest. However, he barely reached a stream, when a man suddenly stepped out from behind a tree on the other side of the bank. He was of extraordinary beauty; a lithe body coupled with blond hair, sapphire eyes, and … pointy ears? What the hell? Maybe he was a male Veela, for all his beauty, but Harry didn't remember Fleur having pointy ears…

Then Harry caught sight of his expression; the only thing ugly about the man.

"You bring an evil into this forest. Begone." He spat. His face twisted into a sneer that bore a striking resemblance to the late Lucius Malfoy. "You're presence is not welcome among these woods."

With that, he pulled out a bow and arrow, and before Harry had time to recover from his shock, pulled back and let the arrow fly. Harry started; and the arrow missed his heart, lodging instead into his right wing.

Pain exploded before his eyes; only his high tolerance for injuries let him stay rational, and he hurriedly shadow transported away before another arrow hit him. He landed only marginally away from the stream; Harry tried again, this time wishing, wishing desperately for the darkest of shadows… and awoke to find himself surrounded in blackness.

He did a quick Occlumency search; finding nothing, his panic dimmed and the pain reappeared. He reverted to his human form. As always, a heart-shaped locket hung around his neck. It was a plain golden locket - a little girlish, but Lily Evans had once worn it. This was one of the few possessions of his parents that Harry had, and he made sure to put it to good use.

Hermione had capitalized on the message Galleons from fifth year, and improved them tremendously as the war developed. She could spell any small metal object to warm when a message appeared and cool if a member had died – for the spells were blood based and allowed the objects to become inseparable from whoever wore it. The locket had been cold for a while. But now it was a normal temperature, and completely blank.

Harry had chosen the locket to be spelled for sentimental reasons as well as practical ones. He opened the locket, and held his hand underneath the catch the trinkets that fell out. There was a little photo album, miniature broomstick, and some other shrunken prized possessions. The invisibility cloak was always a tricky one to find. But there were also a couple of valuable medical items stuffed into the cramped space.

He found what he hoped was the correct potion and enlarged it with a tap of his finger. His wand had disappeared when he first completed the Animagus transformation; the feather from Fawkes had become one of his own. A fire red feather on his own dark plumage. Harry never knew where the wood went, but there was a scar about 11 inches along is right arm and since that fateful day, he could cast spells wandlessly without difficulty.

The potion grew accordingly, and it was the one he had hoped for. He downed it and sighed in relief. It started to re-grow whatever was messed up internally. Perhaps an organ? And his injured arm started knitting itself up with frightening speed.

Feeling marginally better, he glanced around and determined he was in some sort of cave. He shivered - he was slightly claustrophobic after _that_ time – put the locket back around his neck and transformed. Dark phoenixes were better equipped to see in the dark and cave dwelling creatures never looked up for flying things in a cave.

What felt like several years later, Harry felt the wind stir. He must be getting close! The whole time he had been traveling upwards, hoping eventually he'd reach the top of these cursed mines. It seemed his dreams were about to come true. Harry spotted an exit and sped out of it; singing with delight as he flew circles in the sky.

He looked back at the entrance and found himself staring at the peak of a mountain. That was why it took him so long. Looking out across the land, Harry could see woods surrounding the mountain. The nearest form of civilization appeared to be a city far off into the distance that Harry probably couldn't see with human eyes.

This would be a perfect spot to live, he decided.

And for the next year, live there he did. Seasons passed, leaves fell and flowers grew and Harry slowly started losing sense of the time passing. Harry made his own cave in the mountain – for when it snowed or rained, which was often – and he placed innumerable wards and charms on it, one similar to a Fidelus Charm. Harry would sometimes turn back into a human there. But most days he spent as a phoenix; forgetting the world of two-leggers. Every once in a while, he would have company; a flock of mighty Eagles lived an hour away, and they had been friendly to him ever since they found him when he first began to live on the mountain.

They told him many things about the ways of the strange inhabitants of this world. His mountain was called Moira, they said, and in it lived trolls and orcs. Harry was certain that those creatures also attacked him in the shadow land, called Mordor. Apparently, a dark lord recently lived there. The Eagles loved to tell stories of the war. Harry was glad the dark lord was vanquished shortly before he arrived; he didn't think he could handle the strain of another war. A group of sentient beings, humans, dwarves, hobbits, and elves also lived in Middle Earth. The city he could see off in the distance was an elven city. Many times, the Eagles urged him to see the world, to meet some of its better inhabitants, but Harry refused. He was happy with his life.

However, Harry's luck never lasted long.

One day, when he was returning from the nearby stream, Harry approached his cave to find a group of people fighting a hoard of orcs appearing through the opening Harry himself once used, a few years ago. What the fighters didn't see, however, was that more orcs were appearing behind them several hundred yards up the path.

Heaving a mental sigh, Harry felt his hero complex kick in. The group was small; consisting only of a lithe female, an old man, and a short stocky man. They wouldn't last a chance against to orcs.

However, Harry wasn't about to reveal his true abilities to them. Instead, he flew over to them and gave a reassuring croon. He then flew up the path, before the bend where the orcs waited. To their credit, not one member in the odd party batted an eyelash, but proceeded to follow him at the old man's command.

When they were close enough, Harry trilled the hidden cave into existence. It was warded by a modified Fidelus that set Harry as the sole caster and Secret Keeper. Even though he couldn't tell the trio the cave's name, by singing it to them he acknowledged his desire for them to enter.

The short one muttered a strangled oath when he saw a door suddenly appear in front of the rock wall. The female said nothing but her face betrayed her astonishment, while the old man chuckled and proceeded to open the door. Very strange.

Harry flew inside, and the others shortly followed. He mentally snickered. Nothing like a couple hundred orcs to boost your courage.

The door shut with a clang, and the small party faced it with their weapons waiting, as if the orcs would enter any minute. Harry issued an affronted squawk. Honestly! He had better spellwork than that!

The elder turned to him.

"Is this place protected against orcs, my friend?"

Oh no. Harry hoped it wasn't another Dumbledore in disguise. He thought it was a bit early to be declaring friendship. But he bobbed his head vigorously, in an attempt to nod yes.

"If you can speak, please do so. I am fluent in the language of the Eagles and surely yours is not much different." The old man continued.

'Hmm. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try.' thought the phoenix. He concentrated on forming words instead of emotions in his song before letting out a trill.

'_Can you understand me?'_ he asked.

"Indeed I can, my feathered friend. Now, what were you saying about the door?"

'_It is magical; no orcs can break through it. There is no need to stand guard.'_

The elder relayed this information to the other two, who reluctantly abandoned their post and trudged over to his side. Now that the immediate danger was assuaged, it seemed they at least remembered he was a stranger.

"I believe it is time for introductions. I am Gandalf the White. To my left is Gimli son of Gloin, and to my right is Legolas of Mirkwood."

Harry eyed each as they were introduced. Now that he mentioned it, Gandalf looked the part of a muggle fairytale wizard; crooked nose, hat, cape, and long white hair. As mentioned before, Gimli was short and stocky. He had a reddish beard and carried an ax almost as tall as he. And Legolas…

Legolas certainly wasn't a girl. Slightly effeminate, yes, but that only added to his androgynous beauty. If Harry were human, his jaw would be hanging open by now. Luckily, phoenix don't blush or drool or any other embarrassing human actions. However, all rational thought left his mind when Harry's eyes met those of Legolas. Something sparked, and his magic rose up to meet this stranger. There was some inexplicable connection that made Harry reluctant to turn away from the elf. A myriad of emotions he thought buried rose up inside of him, but he dared not identify them; they would only hurt him if he let them loose. He had to make sure these guests didn't overstay their welcome. He didn't want to get attached to anyone here.

He shook his head to clear the unwanted feelings and trilled again. '_I am called Eclipse'_.

Gandalf nodded. "If I may ask, Eclipse, how is it a chamber such as this exists? I have never encountered the type of magic that shields this room."

'_I am unsure. This place existed before I settled here. I noticed it simply because my own magical nature saw through its invisibility. I use room when the elements outside are particularly violent._'

"You are magical?" Gandalf asked, surprised. "It is true I have never encountered a creature such as yourself before. May I inquire, what species are you?"

'_I am a phoenix. Phoenixes are rare magical creatures that prefer to live solitary lives; you are lucky to have encountered just me in your lifetime.'_

Harry was lying through his teeth; he actually had no idea concerning the habits of phoenix, having only spent time in his animagus form during the war spying.

"Fascinating." The eyes turned into a full blown twinkle. The wizard looked more like Hermione than Dumbledore in that instant, which was the only reason why Harry didn't hightail it out of there and let them figure out what to do on their own.

"May I ask, what makes you magical?"

Harry mentally sighed. Let's not scare the mortals.

'_Um, I can heal with my tears… and I'm either immortal or incredibly long-lived_.' And a couple other things, dealing with shadows and darkness... Harry thought silently. But if he mentioned some of his 'darker' traits, they'd be sure to shun him. Just like the Wizarding world. Best if those talents stayed hidden.

Gandalf relayed the information to the others, then added, "Legolas is also immortal. Have you ever encountered some of the elves?"

Now that he mentioned it, that one Lucius Malfoy look-alike did bear a strong resemblance to Legolas. "_Briefly. But I have no wish to interact with them."_ Especially if they all shoot arrows at him. He would be keeping an eye on Legolas. For security reasons, of course.

"Well, we do not wish to impose on your hospitality." Replied Gandalf, taking the hint. "However, as dusk is near and the orcs will only become more active in their search, would you mind if we stayed the night?"

'_Not a problem_.' Harry replied. Unfortunately, he expected them to say that. Oh well. He could sleep one night in the presence of others. Hopefully. Ever since the war, he became paranoid while sleeping; the slightest move would cause him to jump up and start shooting spells.

Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli shuffled about the room, preparing a scanty dinner before falling asleep. Harry lay awake over half the night, unaccustomed to hearing the others' breathing. He couldn't shake off the feeling that change was on the air. No; he would not leave no matter what happened. Too many times had he extended help in the past, only to receive scorn and hatred. With those cheerful thoughts, Harry finally fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of what the morning may bring.


	3. Proposals

Disclaimer: I am a broke college student, not Tolkien or Rowling. Boohoo.

The day dawned bright and early.

Harry eyed the rising sun with relief - soon his unwelcome visitors would be out of his life and things would return to normal. Gandalf was too similar to Dumbledore for Harry's ease of mind - he was sure the elder wizard was plotting something concerning him. And the elf… Harry couldn't get Legolas' image out of his head. This, Harry concluded, foreboded no good. Yes, he looked forward to life without the unexpected trio. His traitorous heartfelt a pang of sadness at this thought, but his mind quickly suppressed it.

"Well Eclipse," Gandalf began, "we are indebted to you. Thank you for your…" The remainder of his sentence was interrupted by a loud screech.

Flying towards them at a rapid pace was Landroval and his mate Asphodel. They were the eldest, and thus the wisest, two Eagles in the nearby area. They would visit Harry every so often; they kept him company when the solitude became too much for him. He had forgotten their stories of Gandalf; they apparently thought very highly of the wizard.

Asphodel reached them first. "Thank goodness you are safe Gandalf. Several falcons passed by Moira yesterday and reported large groups of the orcs stirred from the mountainside and cornered you. We feared we wouldn't arrive in time; luckily, it appears Eclipse provided you with an escape."

"Yes indeed." Replied Gandalf. "We are ever grateful for the aid. And it is a good thing you showed up. I have been meaning to contact the Eagles."

Gandalf paused to compose his thoughts, as the two Eagles found places to land. Looks like he wasn't quite done playing host, Harry thought morosely. When the Eagles had settled and eyed Gandalf intently, the old wizard began his story.

He took a deep breath, and started, "As you may or may not have heard, there is a new evil lurking in Middle Earth. Out of the ashes of Mordor rise a foe born of the very evil that haunts the land. For the past months, there have been scattered reports of creatures; dark as the night, with forms difficult to discern. They seem to be excessively quick, for they can move from one area to another in the blink of an eye. So far, there have not been many casualties, for it is believed they continue to lie in Mordor. But as of late, they have ventured out more – and those they encounter rarely survive to tell the tale." An ominous silence fell, as the wind grew silent even on their high position on the mountain.

Gandalf continued, "We are journeying to alert others of this danger and to hopefully find more information about such creatures. So it is with a worried heart that I ask; would you, once again, rise to the aid of Middle Earth? Keep an eye out for these creatures, and an ear in the wind, for any news of their whereabouts or habits could be of great help. And if it comes once more to battle… Would you aid us if such a plan required the aid of a feathered friend?"

Landroval rose to his full and impressive height. "We have aided you once, and so shall we rise again to extend our help. Any request, within reason, shall be undertaken by us. I shall inform my brother, Gwaihir the Windlord, and soon every Eagle shall know of this decision. You know how to get a hold of us, should you request assistance. And we shall keep you informed of any sightings."

"Thank you, my friend. Words cannot express my humble thanks." An inquisitive gleam appeared in Gandalf's eye. Too inquisitive, Harry thought darkly.

"I know this may seem quite assuming, Eclipse, but I was wondering if you might also lend your aid. With your healing abilities, many could -"

"_No."_ Injected Harry, before Gandalf could get on a roll with his guilt trip. _"I have forever sworn off participating in any war."_ He lowered his gaze as Gandalf stared at him in surprise. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting such a swift and outright refusal. Serves him right. He probably hadn't had many refusals during his life.

At Asphodel's reproachful look – she vaguely reminded him of Mrs. Weasley for some reason – he added a little more politely, "_It's for reasons you would never understand. I'm sorry but I must decline your offer."_

He and Gandalf stared at each other. Then Gandalf bowed his head in acceptance. "If that is your decision." Oh yeah, Harry was officially done with his hero complex. No conniving old men could influence him again. But then he made the mistake of glancing at the rest of the company and saw Gimli puffed up like a red bullfrog, looking like Ron when he felt righteous about something; an image that Harry had almost blocked out of his mind completely. And Legolas was staring with unreadable eyes. Legolas didn't remind Harry of any old friends, but for some reason his blank look with a hint of disappointment affected Harry more than anyone else.

"Well, you have done much for us already. Thank you for your assistance. If you ever do wish to join us, though, you are welcome to find me at any time. Ask the Eagles for my location. And now we really must be off; the sun is already risen fully. Landroval and Asphodel, I will inform you as soon as any plans are made. Farewell, all."

"_Farewell."_ He did _not_ feel a pang of sadness letting them go. He was happily solitary, thank you. He didn't wonder if the orcs would almost ambush them again, either. No way.

The odd trio of companions soon turned on the path and headed out of sight, to begin their descent down the mountain.

However, peace was yet out of reach.

As soon as they were out of hearing, Landroval rounded on Harry.

"You would do well to accompany them."

Harry bristled. _"Don't assume to know so much about me. Under no circumstances will I participate in another war."_

"I know you are more than a bird." The Eagle informed Harry. "I don't know what you are, but I do know that very few creatures should be truly alone, as you are. Look at you - you are wasting away. Do you talk to anybody besides Asphodel and I, on the rare occasions we stop by?"

As Landroval continued to berate him, Harry became more and more agitated with the Eagle. When the Eagle started on his quality of life again, he couldn't help but burst out, _"Maybe I wish to waste away! Maybe I just don't care anymore!"_

The two Eagles appeared taken aback. "Your outburst would indicate otherwise," Asphodel commented on the rather emotional declaration of apathy.

"Very well, fledgling." Landroval said heavily. "We will stop bothering you. It is your life to live."

With that, the two Eagles flew off, leaving Harry alone with only his thoughts as company. He knew he was completely justified with his actions, yet he somehow felt that he had made a mistake."

Despite his previous words, the Eagle's advice did have an impact on Harry. He was unsettled. On one hand… he had valid reasons to distrust people and hole up in this mountain forever. But, if he really was merely 'surviving' as Landroval put it, then it felt as if his whole struggle to kill Voldemort - to fulfill the prophecy - was in vain.

He stared out across the lands, pondering. Looking down the mountain's slope Harry spied three figures slowly picking their way down the rocks.

Looking at the familiar yet alien terrain, Harry remembered the circumstances that brought him here. The-Boy-Who-Lived died in the other world. This was a new world, a new chance to live. His past mistakes and horrors didn't exist here. Yet some of the parallels were disturbing…

Gandalf's words rang through his head. _"If you ever wish to join us…"_

Well, everything else was different; maybe this war would be too. And this time Harry could use his past experiences to be better prepared. Last time, Harry's friendships and loves had been his main weakness; as a result, they were the first to be targeted. This time around, Harry would be aloof; neither interacting with others excessively nor growing attached to them until the end of the war.

Coming to a decision, Harry flew back inside his cave. He gave it a long look. It had served its purpose well, but he felt no particular attachment to it. Well then. He flew back outside.

For a single moment, Harry perched at the entrance of the cave, looking at the sweeping expanse of land below. The scene seemed new and full of possibilities. Good or bad. Summoning the vestiges of his Gryffindor bravery, Harry flew out of the cave and into the new world.

A/N: Yay! I'm so proud! Brave little Harry is going out into the big world!

Please let me know if I have any mistakes... I don't have a beta, and errors can happen...


	4. Realizations

Disclaimer: Still don't own the characters...

* * *

The sun was not yet set, but its lingering rays wouldn't last too long now. It was time to join the trio below. Harry had followed them the entire day, but couldn't quite bring himself to greet them. He remembered how vehemently he had argued against helping and his pride made him wait a little longer, so the Wizard wouldn't feel completely smug about his change of plans.

He silently flew up behind them and dropped low; before landing gracefully on Legolas' shoulder, taking care not to harm the elf.

Legolas started in surprise; he had heard a winged creature with his enhanced abilities, but he wasn't expecting it to land on him. Turning his head, he was assaulted by a mass of black feathers.

"Eclipse!" He exclaimed, feeling uncharacteristically pleased at the reappearance of the bird.

Said bird trilled in reply, the sound causing Legolas' breath to catch. It was beautiful; as pure and vibrant as any elf's voice. Why such a beautiful, intelligent creature wouldn't stay with the elves, he didn't know. It could get boring and lonely with an immortal life, and that was even in elven cities filled with other immortals.

Harry's unusual bout of happiness soured as he saw Gandalf watching with a little twinkle creeping into his eyes. Harry wished the Wizard would stop that. Damn it, it was creepy! At least the eyes were a pale grey, instead of vibrant blue.

He quickly injected, _"I am only offering my healing abilities, and I reserve the right to leave at any time."_ Unfortunately, this assertion did not cause the twinkling to dim.

Gandalf nodded his head in assent. "Yes, of course. Thank you for your assistance, Eclipse." However, the slight smile on his face only heightened Harry's suspicions. The kindly old wizard countenance would not fool him twice, even if this wizard was sincere. No, Harry would be on his guard around Gandalf.

"Well," Gimli said gruffly, "welcome to the company." Gimli eyed the bird with a slight frown, recalling Eclipse's early reluctance. The bird seemed flighty. It better not think about leaving if a crisis occurred. Harry would have laughed if he was a good Legilimens; for this behavior would have been the more indicative of Ron's behavior before he matured. But he didn't know this, nor would he have looked into Gimli's mind if he could; so instead he simply nodded.

After another hour of walking, the sun disappeared from the sky and the odd group was forced to set up camp. They did so quickly and efficiently, with each member carrying out a predetermined role. Harry felt slightly out of the loop, so he settled down on nearby tree branch and stayed out of the way. Soon, a crackling fire warmed the chilly autumn air and Legolas, Gandalf, and Gimli started chatting about far off places and people.

Harry could hear them all from his nearby perch. He was not used to this much human contact; he kept twitching every time the burning wood cracked or Gimli let out a particularly bark-like laugh. Being on his own so long, Harry had come to expect having nothing but his own thoughts for company. The constant murmur in the background was disconcerting, to say the least.

Looking at the three unusual companions, laughing over their recounted tales, he was forcibly reminded of a similar trio. There was many a time when he, Ron, and Hermione would lounge around the Gryffindor fireplace reminiscing over some of their earlier adventures. A picture of a smiling Ron and Hermione appeared in his mind. Harry instinctively pushed it back where it belonged; in a vault locked deep within the recesses of his mind. Those memories of Ron and Hermione, along with memories of the war, were too painful to remember.

When Harry first arrived in this world, the shock of his arrival had kept him from mulling over the recent ending of the war. However, as soon as he settled into his new home on the mountain, the past events came rushing back. Harry had frequent nightmares as well as having daytime delusions of Ron and Hermione. He ate little, and slept even less. In this state, Harry's mind could only handle so much. Eventually, Harry did the only thing he knew how; he shoved every memory relating to someone's death or Voldemort into a container in his mind, fashioned after a high-security Gringotts vault. Some deaths, like Ron's and Hermione's, were so painful that any memory of them reminded him of their demise. Harry eventually placed those memories in the vault as well.

He didn't know how healthy this behavior was – Snape would probably call him an incompetent fool if he were alive to know – but since the couple of months after enacting the barriers, Harry didn't think his mind had been damaged.

However, lately his defenses had been weakening; not too much, but enough to cause worry. Harry had gotten into the habit of strengthening and assessing the barriers each morning, and unfortunately, it seemed the presence of this new trio had an adverse affect on the memory block. He supposed that they reminded him too much of people from the other world. He would have to be on his guard now that he would be spending with them.

Harry stayed up, half-listening until the conversation finally died. He then drifted off into a restless sleep.

"_Shh… hurry up, Hermione! Filch is two corridors to the right!" Harry whispered feverishly as he glanced down at the Marauder's Map. The trio was making their way up to the Room of Requirement. Up three more moving staircases and through the secret passageway behind Montengous the Mad and the trio finally reached their destination. Slipping inside, the Room immediately transformed into an exact replica of their last visit, even down to the crumpled up book Ron threw on the floor. Predictably, Hermione huffed and proceeded to right the book._

"_Honestly Ron! Even if the book didn't have information on the Animus Transformae spell, doesn't mean it's worthless. It's a book!" Hermione yelled exasperatedly._

"_Yeah, okay, no need to get your knickers in a twist." Ron muttered under his breath as he scanned the new titles appearing on the shelves. "Here, this one looks good! __Becoming Your Inner Animal__… hmm… transformation spells page 83… hey! He looked up with surprise. "This might be it. Here, you have a look Hermione, is that what we've been looking for the past couple of weeks?"_

_She took the book and glanced over it. Surprise shone on her features. "You're right, Ron." She frowned in concentration, and probably in disappointment that her superior researching skills hadn't found the book first. "Alright, the spell isn't too difficult. You're going to make a sharp jab followed by a sweeping arc - just like you would to cast a warming charm. The incantation is Animus Evigilo."_

_They took turns practicing and critiquing each other for a long couple of days, until Hermione finally announced they were ready._

"_Well, it's now or never." She said. They all agreed, after some debate, that Hermione should go first, since she had the best chance of getting it right the first time. "Animus Evigilo."_

_All of a sudden, she was shrinking and twisting until… a small brown owl sat in front of them on top of a pile of clothes. It's feathers stuck up in every direction, kind of like Hermione's hair in the morning. Ron and Harry laughed. The owl hooted at the from the ground, seemingly disoriented from the sudden change of height. Then the owl scrunched up its face and it began to grow, eventually forming Hermione again, who hastily summoned a sheet to cover herself._

_She looked at them with excitement in her eyes. "That was incredible! It wasn't too painful either. I suppose it gets easier with practice. You try, Ron."_

_Ron took a steadying breath before he too said the incantation. Ron began to shrink but then elongated, forming into a lion. He looked down at himself and let out a roar of happiness that made the ground shake. His face, too, scrunched up his face in concentration and as the spell wore off and transformed him back._

"_That was bloody brilliant, Harry. You're turn to give it a try." Ron exclaimed._

"_Now remember Harry, make sure to stress the 'An' and 'Ev.'" Hermione added._

_Harry stared straight ahead, mentally preparing himself. What would he become? A stag perhaps, like his dad? He tried to keep an open mind about the animal. He then chanted, "Animus Evigilo."_

_The first thing Harry felt was a cramped sensation as his body became smaller. All of a sudden, it felt as if his blood was on fire. He would have screamed, but his mouth was reforming into a beak. Ron and Hermione looked on in horror at Harry's convulsions. Their bewilderment quickly turned to panic when flames erupted around Harry. Harry's last thought before being consumed by fire was to wonder if he would see his parents and Sirius again._

_In what felt like a matter of years, Harry watched his life flash before his eyes, the memories rewinding until Voldemort uttered the infamous words "Avada Kedavra"._

With a barely suppressed screech, Harry awoke violently. He looked around wildly, hoping to catch one last glimpse of his two former friends. But all Harry saw was shifting shadows as the dawn rose.

But as the dream caught up with him, he realized it wasn't a dream at all - it was a memory. A memory of his, Ron's, and Hermione's first transformations.

Just to be sure, Harry rechecked his inner wards around his mind - sure enough, it was one of several memories floating about. They all featured him, Ron, and Hermione involved in one of their many school time adventures: fighting the troll, brewing the Polyjuice Potion… and, yes, studying to become illegal Animagus about a year ago. Hermione initially opposed the idea, but the ever-looming war made her reconsider. She reasoned they would need every advantage against the growing forces of Voldemort, and every additional person who knew of their secret was a liability. Not even Dumbledore was told. Besides at that time the headmaster was not Harry's most favorite person. The prophecy, along with Dumbledore's later manipulation of the media and Harry, had made Harry rethink his loyalties. But why did he have a dream about this particular event?

Perhaps… Reflecting on the events of the night prior, Harry vaguely recalled Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli reminding him of his own friends and adventures. He supposed that triggered the subsequent memory leak. If this theory were true, though, that meant Harry had to be more controlled than ever. He couldn't allow for slip-ups, or eventually his own safeguards might collapse. Occlumency was not meant to hide memories from practitioner's own mind - it is only supposed to guard against intrusion. As Harry's few Occlumency books stressed, the mind is a very delicate thing; any tampering through Legilimency or otherwise could irreversibly damage it.

Harry gave a small chirp. Oh well. He knew the dangers when he sealed his memories, and he accepted the risks. At this point, it might even be more harmful to allow the memories to haunt his dreams again - especially with a potential war brewing. He would just have to work harder on his Occlumency.

Harry put aside all depressing thoughts as he saw the rest of the company begin to stir and readied himself for his first whole day with the odd company.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to everyone who pointed out my mistake with Hermione's animagus form. She appears in a later memory as an owl, so I changed her form here.


	5. Illusions

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters...

Breakfast went by quickly; the company ate some the remnants of last night's dinner while Harry found a bush of red berries he recognized that also grew near 'his' mountain. It was odd… though only a cave, Harry had become more attached to it than he had originally thought. Certainly, it was the only place Harry had never felt threatened in. He gave himself a mental shake. It wouldn't do to start reminiscing.

They set off again after the remnants of last night's fire were doused and the sleeping packs and cooking utensils were packed away. They were headed towards Lothlorien, Gandalf explained as he walked. They had already visited the other two elven realms and this was the last one to consult. While everyone had promised aid, no one had any knowledge of these creatures. Gandalf hoped that the Lady Galadriel might have seen or heard something. The way he stressed _seen_, Harry got the impression that this was not physical seeing. Maybe something like a seer. Hopefully not; one seer was enough for him. But all the same, he would be on his guard.

Since Harry could fly faster than the trio could walk, he often made large sweeps ahead of the travelers, keeping an eye out for danger. The distance served another purpose too: quiet. Harry had yet to get accustomed to the amount of noise the others made.

A few hours later, the company stopped by a stream for a short rest and Harry alighted on an overhanging tree. There were a few minutes of blessed silence until…

"So, Eclipse, how many other – what do you call them – phoenixes are there in Middle Earth. I confess, I am most intrigued by your species. I've never even heard mention of them through old tales and legends."

And the interrogation begins.

Harry had been expecting this; after all, it wasn't everyday you came across a rare magical species. Naturally, they'd be curious – especially Gandalf, who would want to learn more about another being able to wield magic. Unfortunately, Harry didn't have many answers to give them. It wasn't as if he would tell them the truth. He could picture it:

_Gandalf: So, Eclipse, where are you from? Or have you always lived on that mountain?_

_Harry: Well to be honest, I'm really not sure. You see, I was born in a completely different world and I have no idea how I got here. Oh, by the way, I'm actually a human and my name is Harry. Surprise!_

Like that would go over well. They'd think he was a freak. And who knows? They might be right; heck, even by wizarding world standards, Harry was always abnormal.

Refocusing on the question – Gandalf was still waiting for a reply – Harry grasped for an answer.

'_Well, we are usually solitary. And most of my brethren live in warmer climates, in lands that your tales have never heard of. I actually traveled a great distance to get here."_ At least it wasn't a complete lie. Gandalf translated for the other companions.

"Hmm," Legolas agreed. "I'm sure the elves would have remembered any magical bird if it ever entered Middle Earth, yet I've never heard of a Phoenix. Do you miss your kind?"

_If only you knew how much_, thought Harry despairingly. Instead, his drooping feathers spoke for his feelings. Legolas seemed to notice Eclipse's mood on the subject. He hastened to apologize to the bird.

There was a lull in the conversation after that, which lasted till lunchtime. Then Legolas and Gandalf kept up a light discourse on other magical creatures of Middle Earth, while Harry gratefully flew ahead of the company. He knew he might appear standoffish or rude, but he was still having trouble with the close proximity to other beings.

That night Harry had another dream. This one was darker than the previous night's: it was about one of several confrontations with Dumbledore. As the war progressed, Dumbledore had to make more and more "sacrifices for the good of the whole"; unfortunately, many of these sacrifices seemed to revolve around Harry.

"_But why me!" Harry roared. However, his wave of anger was ineffectual against the will that was Albus Dumbledore._

_With that damned twinkle and customary, "Harry, my boy," Dumbledore then proceeded to explain why Harry should break into Voldemort's mind to retrieve valuable information. Who cares if this practice was considered a dark art and often left the practitioner scarred for life? Well, for whatever was left of their life. Many who fully entered another's mind, not just picking up surface thoughts like Dumbledore and Snape did, were assaulted by an overflow of thoughts, emotions, and senses from the other person's mind. They felt everything the other person felt. Oftentimes, the practitioner's mind couldn't handle all the information and either shut down or assimilated the foreign memories into its own._

_As usual, Dumbledore 'forgot' to mention all of these details to Harry; however, he had underestimated the trio's study skills in their own search to find ways to destroy Voldemort. Harry had already researched this information and Hermione and Ron deemed it too risky to try. He told this to Dumbledore, but the old coot pulled another one of his guilt trips and Harry found himself resentfully agreeing with the plan. Malfoy Manor was hidden by a spell similar to the Fidelus Charm and several Order members were believed to be imprisoned there. One of these members was Arthur Weasley. A surprise attack could help free the prisoners in addition to striking a blow against one of Voldemort's strongholds. How could Harry ever face Ron again if he refused?_

_Dumbledore didn't waste any time with Harry's assent. He already had the required potion made and it sat on his desk, ready for Harry to drink. But before he drained the last drop, Harry vowed that he would never again become a pawn. He would find a way to protect those he cared about and the rest of the world could go to hell for all he cared._

_Voldemort's mind loomed before him as a fiery abyss. And then Harry knew nothing but pain and darkness._

The first rays of the morning light hit Harry's eyes and he awoke with a start. Harry had not dreamed of Dumbledore in a long time; the old man was involved in too many negative events in Harry's life and was accordingly placed into his Occlumency barrier. This meant that his memory block was continuing to weaken.

But Harry shoved that unpleasant thought into the back of his mind as he was adept at doing. He stared at Gandalf, who was just beginning to stir, and forced himself to compare the two wizards. Gandalf lacked the violently colored robes and half-moon glasses of Dumbledore; really, they didn't even look that similar. So snap out of it, Harry told himself.

He then gave a mental good morning to Gandalf, just to reinforce that fact. He could have greeted the others telepathically as well, but so far they seemed to believe that only Gandalf was capable of speaking to birds. Since this resulted in less communication, Harry wasn't complaining. The dwarf's voice grated on his ears that were accustomed to silence.

As they began their walk, Harry decided to take control of the conversation and steer it from his murky past.

'_So, Gandalf, what exactly are you fighting? Some sort of… monster?'_ he inquired. Harry was fine with monsters; with enough power, any monster could be killed. It was intelligent beings bent towards evil that Harry feared. Beings like Voldemort were often ruthless and clever; and one always had to be wary of multiple plans in play.

Gandalf alerted his companions of Eclipse's question and then answered aloud, "The creatures are about the same size as the orcs and uruk-hai. That's what we originally believed them to be. But they are much more cunning and have an unusual knack for disappearing into shadows. That is our greatest concern; that these enemies are able to infiltrate any place. They make great use of this by randomly attacking villages and then disappearing at the first sign of defense."

Legolas chimed in, "We think that they come from Mordor. After Sauron's fall, a great deal of twisted magic was released and probably gave rise to these evil creatures of magic. They might even be orcs that were changed by the event."

That wasn't too bad. '_So we simply must find their weaknesses and exploit them_.' Harry summarized succinctly. Double checking, he added, '_Do they show any signs of organization, or of following a leader?_'

Gandalf repeated Harry's question.

Gimli spoke up, "That's actually a good question." He stated with grudging respect. Gimli was still rather wary of Eclipse. "It's too early to tell. There have only been a smattering of attacks, but they seem to be growing more coordinated against Gondor. King Aragorn is getting worried – he'd like to squash this before the situation gets out of control - so he sent messengers throughout Middle Earth to find any information on the creatures. But there's nothing on 'em." He eyes narrowed in anger as he remembered how frustratingly little they had found. "But I think the Lady Galadriel should help us…" Here the dwarf trailed off with an almost – was that a dreamy expression? Harry was floored. Was he missing something here? Gimli was still staring off in la-la land. Maybe Lady Galadriel was mind controlling him. Harry was getting increasingly jumpy about her.

They lapsed into silence after that, and Harry mulled over this new information. He reasoned that this problem was just beginning; if it was stopped soon, there wouldn't be as many losses. It'd be vastly different then the last war he was in.

He was worried about the creatures' descriptions though. What if their abilities to blend in the shadows were similar to his 'shadow jumping'? It wasn't exactly a common trait. How would Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli react if they knew of his ability? He was starting to become attached to the three; he didn't consider them friends, per say, - he was too jaded from past experiences for that – but he did respect each of them. While he and Gimli hadn't started off on the best of terms, the dwarf's immediate accusation of Harry's cowardice was reminiscent of what Hermione had dubbed a "Ron Reaction": talking without thinking and jumping to conclusions. Ron had curbed this and many other traits as the war drug on ... there was no room for error on the Light side he learned that all too quickly. Gimli was also like Ron in more subtle ways - while both were loud and opinionated they also harbored extreme loyalty and courage.

Gandalf reminded Harry of Dumbledore, and Harry had yet to decide if this was a good or bad thing. The old wizard had the some kindly demeanor, but every once in a while, Harry noticed a telltale twinkle in the old man's eyes. Dumbledore used that twinkle to hide his lies and manipulations; Harry hoped that this was not the same for Gandalf.

And Legolas… Well, Legolas didn't remind Harry of anyone he had met before. This was a relief, since Harry wasn't plagued by dreams of the elf's counterpart. As a result, he was more comfortable in Legolas' presence than with his other two traveling companions and consequently spent more time around the elf. Whenever everyone halted to set up camp or to eat, Harry would always alight on a branch or rock nearest to Legolas.

Neither Harry nor Legolas noticed this – but Gandalf did. He kept a careful eye on Eclipse. Eclipse was an unknown piece in the upcoming battle and Gandalf knew the bird was harboring secrets. As long as those secrets didn't relate to the shadow creatures of Mordor, Gandalf didn't care what Eclipse was hiding. But these were increasingly dangerous times, and one could never be too careful… He tried asking some harmless questions, but Eclipse seemed suspicious of him, so they weren't making much progress.

Gandalf sighed.

At least Landroval and Asphodel trusted Eclipse; and Gandalf trusted their good judgment. So he sat back and watched Eclipse become more comfortable around Legolas and hoped that the dark bird would eventually confide in them.

That night when they sat around the campfire Gandalf predicted that they would be in Lothlorien within ten day's time if they kept up a good pace. Harry hoped this news wouldn't affect his dreams, but of course they were filled with memories of entering Voldemort's mind and trying to desperately learn Occlumency with Snape's begrudging help.

A/N: Okay, so here's where the plot starts changing a bit. During this past year of not updating, I actually looked at a LOTR map... and realized that Moria is nowhere near Gondor. So I decided they should probably stop at some other places along the way. Then I remembered - Harry's already been to Lothlorien and was attacked! They should go there next! Poor Harry.


	6. Interlude

Disclaimer: Really? By now everyone knows I don't own these characters...

* * *

Throughout the few days of trekking through the wilderness, Harry fell into a pattern as he adjusted to his new lifestyle. He often awoke before dawn because of his dreams or, more commonly, his nightmares. He then waited until first light, when the rest of the company got up. After a quick breakfast, they set off for Lothlorien and walked until a lunch break around midday. Harry began to look forward to mealtimes; he loved the elven _lembas_ Legolas brought with him. It certainly beat some of the questionable berries Harry found.

Since acquiring his phoenix animagus form, Harry had grown less and less fond of meat and dairy foods. Hermione theorized that his body was unconsciously picking up on the phoenix's eating habits, which, like any bird, preferred bread and fruit. Also, when the war started in full, the sight of meat reminded him too much of the ripped and charred corpses that lay on the battlefield; unlike an Avada Kedavra, werewolves and vampires were much more direct in killing their prey.

Today's lunch started similar to the others. First, Gimli's stomach started growling. Loudly. Both Legolas and Eclipse shared a knowing glance. They had come to share a great many unwritten signals, since Harry hadn't ever tried to "speak" to Legolas mentally. Only Gandalf could speak to other birds; and if Legolas could suddenly understand Harry, that would just be one more abnormality they came to associate with him.

As usual, Gimli scoffed at Legolas's lembas; opting instead for his dried strips of what looked like rabbit meat. The two eyed each other's food choice but luckily neither commented. Just yesterday they had gotten into an argument that involved a displeased elf, a red-faced dwarf and many thrown pine cones.

Harry was offered some lembas, but refused; Legolas had not expected an extra mouth and had packed accordingly. He never ate much anyway: the Dursley's and the uncertain wartime conditions assured that. Besides, he could always find some berries to eat later.

Knowing it would be awhile before they were on the road again, Harry cocked a head at Gandalf.

'_I'm going to stretch my wings a bit. I won't take long_.'

Gandalf bowed his head in acknowledgement. "If we leave early, we will be heading east. The trees are not so thick; you should be able to spot us without difficulty."

Gimli and Legolas had been following the one-sided conversation and figured out Harry's intent.

"Just don't go too far" the dwarf said gruffly. "Don't want to get lost."

"Enjoy your flight." added Legolas.

Harry chirped back in reply, then spread his wings and took off. After some initial flapping, he was high in the air and soaring with the wind currents. Below, the landscape spread out beneath him. Dark clumps of trees contrasted with the distant view of cultivated field. And beyond… Harry couldn't see Gondor yet. That was supposed to be their final destination. He wondered if this was the same place he was imprisoned in, several months ago, when Gimli started waxing poetic about its marbled archways and stone tracery. He certainly hoped not.

But, he reminded himself, it's not as if they would recognize you. No one would connect the dark haired prisoner with a magical bird.

After that, Harry put all distressing thoughts out of his mind and focused on the exhilarating feel of flying. Harry had been ecstatic when he first learned of his animagus form; his love of flying was now not limited only to his Firebolt. Even after all this time, the novelty hadn't worn off.

For the next few hours, Harry soared, dived, and turned in the air. Several times he spotted the moving figures of Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf trooping across a prairie below or walking on dirt paths through forested hills, but for the most part, Harry was content to ignore everything but the wind beneath his wings.

Only when the sun was sinking, casting long shadows over the land, did Harry seek to rejoin the company. They had made good progress; he could see their forms bobbing along the border where grassland met the forest.

He flew lazily over, taking wide sweeping turns and slowly descending toward the ground below. By this time, the company had entered into the thicket of trees. Harry flew underneath the canopy of leaves, extending his senses to pinpoint the location of the dwarf crashing through the undergrowth. He snickered to himself. The dwarf really was oblivious to the amount of noise he created; Harry and Legolas often shared looks of commiseration as he stomped around making more noise than a herd of elephants.

However, instead of being greeted with muttering and select curses as Gimli fought the natural terrain, Harry was met with a very different sort of sound. A cold metallic sound, that of steel being drawn. Suddenly shouts filled the air, snapping Harry out of his momentary bewilderment. He rushed forward, flapping as fast as he could while trying to dodge tree limbs.

Up ahead stood Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf back-to-back as they were encircled by several dark forms. Before Harry's eyes, one of these animals faded into the ground… but it couldn't have disappeared: it must have just camouflaged itself under the dark canopy of the tree. It didn't look like an orc, but it was certainly ugly enough. Maybe one of those Mordor creatures had been following the company?

Looking closer in the murky bushes, Harry was horrified to see more shiny black eyes twinkling from the secrecy of the shadows. The company was completely surrounded and outnumbered. With a veteran's skill, Harry assessed the current situation and came to an unsatisfactory conclusion: they needed help. Harry's phoenix form was only of use as a healer –maybe important after the battle, but it provided little help in fighting monsters. He had never traveled through this region and thus had no idea where assistance could, if at all, be found.

Gimli grunted with pain as one particularly bold monster launched itself at the dwarf's arm. Gandalf spoke a word of power that sent all the beasts within a couple feet's radius flying back into the thicket of trees. But they bounced back quickly and agilely and once more pressed in on the company.

A wild thought struck Harry: the company, distracted as it was, hadn't noticed his arrival; they were too busy eyeing the ground than to see a dark shape circling above. He could provide aid – in the form of himself. His human self.

A lilting voice rang out, "Eleven!" – "I didn't know you were counting, you cheat!" interrupted a gruffer voice– "How many of these things are there?"

Why was Legolas counting the monsters? Harry refocused his thoughts with a shake of his head. He knew there were more than enough creatures remaining to be a threat. With this decided he dove down and landed on a rather large tree branch that was just out of sight of the battle. He changed slowly; focusing intently on the image of himself despite the nearby shouts and curses. It had been so long since he last transformed that Harry was seriously worried about any mistakes.

With a gasp, Harry snapped out of his trance and looked down at his hands, not talons, which were now gripping the groaning branch. The pink fleshy fingers looked absurdly out of place. He had rarely spent time as a human even in the security of his cave; his phoenix form felt more natural than his 'true' self. At least phoenixes, being magical creatures, were very intelligent and had a wider variety of emotions than most animals, so Harry's mind wasn't stifled by his animagus form. Many other witches and wizards could only remain an animal so long before their personalities started to blend irreversibly with the animal's instincts.

Still. It was a weird experience to be human again. He looked down at his arm, seeing the long scar the length of a wand. To be precise, an 11" wand. His hands starting to wrinkle whereas before they had been smooth. Maybe the transportation to this world had aged him? But this was not the time to contemplate past actions, he was needed now. Shaking off his thoughts, Harry conjured a hooded robe – thank Merlin he had memorized that spell from Order raids – and rushed to join the battle.


	7. Trust

Disclaimer: I would much richer if I owned LOTR or HP...

* * *

Approaching the clearing, Harry ducked in time to avoid being hit by a flying dark mass. The object continued its trajectory until it hit a tree with a mighty 'thump.' It lay still for a few moments, stunned, giving Harry time to note its twisted, disproportionate body. Harry thought idly of the goblins who guarded Gringotts; the dirtied figure was about the same size. However, the ungainly face soon rose, two beetle eyes blinked with disorientation, and then the body melted into darkness.

Perplexed, Harry stared at the site for a moment before shuffling the incident to the back of his mind. He snapped around as he heard a muffled oath from Gimli; and fired off a quick shield charm around the trio before any more injuries could occur.

There was a sudden lull in the fighting as both parties stopped to puzzle over the iridescent, almost transparent shield.

Harry used this moment to the fullest advantage and fired off as many stunners as he could towards the creatures too close to his friends. He wondered if these creatures were similar to Dementors and fed off of emotions. He cast a Patronus that shot out of his hand and ran through the beings. But instead of writhing in pain or running away, they were quiet and almost peaceful. Then the Patronus disappeared and they attacked more vigorously than before.

Just great, thought Harry. That didn't work like I thought it would. On the flip side, their indifference to the Patronus most likely meant that the creatures were not insubstantial 'shadow creatures' but fully living and breathing. And as Gimli and Legolas had discovered, they were susceptible to blades and arrows.

Time to contemplate on their origins later. Harry fired an Incendio, which produced the effects he had been looking for in the Patronus. Several of the creatures disappeared in ash and many others stopped to observe the effects. Perhaps finally feeling like they were losing, the creatures started to rapidly disappear and within seconds there was no sign that they had ever existed except for the remaining corpses.

There was an empty silence now. This was his cue to leave then. He made a mistake though – he briefly met Legolas' eyes and felt his breath catch. Somehow the elf was even more stunning through human eyes. Legolas looked like he was about to say something and Harry turned and fled, ignoring the startled cry of "Wait!" behind him.

Once sure he was out of sight, he quickly transformed back into a phoenix and returned to the glade, hoping that his companions had not left it. Luckily, they had not. Legolas was dragging the dead bodies out of the clearing while Gandalf was hunched over Gimli, who looked pale and was clutching his side. The dwarf hadn't been in pain when Harry had left; it must have been some sort of residual poisoning.

Harry angled down towards the dwarf, trilling to alert the company to his presence. Legolas and Gandalf whipped around to see him, but Gimli lay oblivious on the ground.

"_How is he?"_ Harry asked Gandalf.

"Poisoned." Replied Gandalf in a grim voice. "Now is the time for your healing services, Eclipse."

"_Stand back."_

Eclipse settled as close as he could besides Gimli, careful to tuck his wings close as he peered over the wound. Summoning his tears through a mournful trill, he blinked over the wound, which sizzled and hissed as the poison was dissolved. Gimli's tough, dwarven skin began stitching itself together before Gandalf's and Legolas' astonished eyes.

Gimli took a deep breath, then abruptly opened his eyes. "It's gone. How… That's… that's incredible. No pain whatsoever!" he cried, attempting to bow from his sitting position. "My deepest gratitude, Eclipse. I shall not forget this service you have done me."

"Indeed, Eclipse, you spoke true of your ability. I look with greater hope towards the battles sure to come." Gandalf added.

Legolas prodded the spot where the wound existed."It's… astounding." He turned serious eyes on Eclipse as he quietly commented, "The art of healing is held in highest esteem among elves. My brethren would be honored to meet with you." Singing, healing… Legolas' mind was working in overdrive. He would have to convince Eclipse to visit an Elvish city. He was sure the bird would fit right in; furthermore, he thought that Eclipse had lived a lonely life before their arrival and his heart clenched at the thought of the intelligent creature returning to solitude once the upcoming battles were through.

Harry, however, was entertaining different thoughts as Legolas' eyes bore into his. _They're so blue. Like Ron's._ The sudden image of similar blue eyes wasn't as painful as it usual was and the memory quickly flashed by as Harry continued staring into the elf's deep eyes. _They're open, honest. But with a glimmer of pain and wary acceptance. He too has experienced war. But he certainly coped better._

Harry jerked his head away, breaking whatever connection they shared. _Perhaps he hasn't suffered as much._

As the light faded, the company hurriedly found a new spot to camp and lit a fire. The conversation soon turned to the serious matter of their surprise attackers.

"I have never seen or heard anything like them. Yet they did remind me of Uruk-hai. Perhaps the stories are true, that they are a new experiment from the last war. It seemed as if they could melt into the shadows" Legolas stared off into the fire. He raised his eyes to stare directly at Harry. "Eclipse, have you ever seen such creatures during your travels here?"

Harry fidgeted slightly from his spot on a tree stump nearby the fire. It wasn't as good as a tree branch but he figured the company would want him to participate in this conversation.

His mind was racing a mile a minute. Should he mention his own shadow jumping abilities? Pass the trait off as a characteristic of his world? They distrusted him enough already. He didn't need to give them any more reasons. But… Looking up to Legolas' expectant face, Harry felt a twinge of guilt and felt of small surge of his Gryffindor courage.

It was now or never… He concentrated on the shadows cast by the elf - and reappeared next to him. Belatedly, Harry realized that Legolas might not react well to this, but while the elf gave a huge start, he didn't reach for his weapons instinctively.

"Warn me next time! I could have hurt you!" he cried while taking a deep calming breath to get over his scare. However, the suddenness of Eclipse's appearance wasn't half as frightening as the thought of accidentally harming the bird.

Harry was already explaining to Gandalf, "_I have never encountered other creatures who posses my ability. However, I am familiar with using the shadows as a mean of transportation. So it is not altogether surprising to find others who may possess the same trait. And please give my apologies to Legolas - I thought a demonstration would be most direct method of answering your question_."

"And indeed it was." chortled Gandalf as he relayed Harry's apology to the elf. "Would you mind explaining your ability Eclipse?"

"And maybe clarify why you never told us of it?" cut in Gimli. He continued on, his voice rising in volume. "You've been hiding your abilities - the same abilities as those monsters! What's to say you're not in league with them?"

There was a long pause. Gimli's accusation rang through Harry's mind. It was the same back then - they thought he was evil, a demon, when Harry's traits dealing with darkness were revealed. Ron and Hermione supported him, of course; after all their other arguments and adventures, he wasn't going to lose his friends because of the wizarding world's fickle opinion. However, Dumbledore had manipulated the situation so that he was one of the few supporters of The Boy Who Lived, and thus one of the few people Harry could turn to. He used this advantage to coerce Harry into dangerous or morally ambiguous stunts.

However, as the silence stretched on as Harry was lost in memories, Gimli's small, forced cough broke the silence.

"I apologize, Eclipse. I don't always think before I speak. You have done me a great service and I will not forget it. By my axe, I, Gimli son of Gloin, will not forsake you. You have my trust, and I retract my accusation."

He… what? Harry blinked, startled from his musings. That was certainly unexpected. Warmth filled him as he realized that this world was indeed different. They trusted him. Sort of. Perhaps he could trust them. Or maybe they would turn their backs on him sometime in the future. It was a dilemma.

With a deep breath, he began to mindspeak to Gandalf.

"_When I joined your company, I did so only to help as a healer. Others have tried to use my discreet jumping abilities for secret missions and assassinations. I refuse to do this and so I did not mention my shadow ability to you. I hope that you understand, but I will not change my stance on this."_

Harry paused, as he gauged their reactions. Once Gandalf relayed the message, looks of understanding dawned on their faces. It was… encouraging.

"_Well, if those creatures have abilities similar to mine, here's what I can guess about them. They can go wherever shadows exist; however, it takes more energy the further away the jump is. Also, when I first gained my ability, I was more sensitive to light and fire. You may be able to fight them better that way. I'm afraid that's all I know."_

There was silence as everyone pondered Eclipse's words.

Legolas was the first to break the silence. "That stranger - he used fire to slay our foes. But… it was as if he summoned the element out of thin air. Gandalf, do you know of any such magics?"

Gandalf shook his head. Sighing, he replied, "No. And I didn't see any staff either, for casting spells. Who could he be, I wonder?"

Silence reigned again; the company had come to another dead end.

"Well," spoke Gimli, breaking the quiet, "I'm thankful to our visitor, whoever he was. I just hope we won't need his services again. The danger is not supposed to start until we reach Gondor."

"Very well said, my dear friend." Gandalf added. "It is obviously that we will learn no more tonight. Goodnight, my friends."

Harry laid awake some time after the rest of the company had fallen asleep, rehashing the day's events. He couldn't help but feel hopeful about the coming days. Perhaps this decision wasn't so bad after all.

That night, as Harry slept, he didn't dream about the past.

In the days that followed, a more relaxed atmosphere followed the company. With a basic trust established, an invisible barrier had been breached; and now the company spoke more freely with Eclipse. Harry, in turn, tried to reciprocate the actions, but it was hard to reveal more of himself and his background while he struggled to keep his memories in check.

His Occlumency barriers were weakening. Harry had noticed it in his more and more frequent dreams about the past, but cracks in his shields were forming quicker than he had thought. The pressure from bottling up memories for too long was mounting. He knew, from books and from warnings from Snape, that when the memories broke free, they would flood his mind. Unless he could cope with the onslaught of emotions, the memories would overpowering his mind and leave an empty shell.

That day was coming soon.

He had spent too much time with these people; they had slowly weakened reserved demeanor and brought out emotions that had lain dormant for years. When was the last time he had felt happy, if only a brief moment? When was the last time he had sung, in joy? The elf in particular was a major cause of these unwanted feelings.

Looking at Legolas, Harry always felt an inexplicable urge well up inside him. To do what, he didn't know. All that he did know was that the elf's smile was like a balm to his frayed nerves. And Legolas smiled more when Harry sang.

But every little action, every chore the company did brought back memories of similar times in Harry's old life. Memories he had sought to contain.

And it was getting so damned hard to keep those barriers up! He had been feeling more tired than usual, though that could be attributed to the unaccustomed amount of flying he did each day. It was certainly more than when he lived at the mountain. But Harry noticed that a feather had fallen out this morning. It must be stress. But it could be indicative of something happening biologically – which would most likely concern his mental state.

And so Harry flew about fretfully while he tried to act normal when speaking with Gandalf. And singing with Legolas did help him to relax and brighten up the elf. So he tried to channel non-stressful thoughts and promptly ignored the problem. Hopefully it wouldn't appear too soon.


	8. Broken

Disclaimer: HP and LOTR aren't mine.

* * *

The day started off ordinary. After everyone awoke, the company continued their march towards Lothlorien, making good time as they journeyed through a narrow forest path. When they stopped for the night, Gandalf estimated only two more days of travel if the weather remained benign.

As the camp was set and the fire lit, Harry settled on a nearby tree as usual, away from the smoke and the conversations among old friends. His restless sleep was frequented by another memory; one that should have been blocked even more tightly than those of Ron or Hermione.

_Harry was practicing on his animagus form. It wasn't as if there was much else to do; for Harry had been captured by Lucius Malfoy and was currently residing wandless in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor. Several Death Eaters had come to visit the Boy-who-Lived and play some games with him, but as of yet, the Dark Lord did not grace Harry with his presence. Having overheard some snatches of conversation between the Death Eaters, Harry formed the vague impression that the Dark Lord remained ignorant of his capture. While the reasons behind this baffled him, the Gryffindor assumed that it had something to do with the Slytherins becoming overly ambitious or wanting a safeguard against Voldemort's increasingly unpredictable wrath._

_So there Harry was, injured and bored, sitting on the cold stone floor in a small cell. That's when he decided to try out his animagus form again. After casting the Animus Evigilo spell with Ron and Hermione, Harry had not been able to transform again. Hermione theorized that it was a result of his painful first transformation and his body instinctively tried to avoid being in such pain again. However, he had spent at least a week here in this prison and with little chance of rescue Harry was desperate._

_He took several deep breaths and focused on entering a meditative state similar to one he had finally learned from Snape during Occlumency lessons. Slowly, outside noises and distractions fell away and even more slowly, Harry finally managed to block out the internal signals from his body about the its pain. Finally, Harry's head cleared. He knew what he had to do. After months of futile trying, he felt his bones – reshaping, shrinking, lightening – as they reformed into a bird's bones. Deep black plumage sprouted and when Harry opened his eyes, he saw the world in a wash of colorful magic._

_All of a sudden, the pain held at bay came rushing back with a force. Harry cried out and was startled to find that his few notes seemed to ease his aching body. Trilling more forcefully, he wove a song of healing around himself, and was overjoyed at the rate which his phoenix body healed. When Crabbe Senior – almost as dimwitted as his son – was sent down into the dungeons to check up on the prisoner, Harry learned of a new advantage of his new form. His song became vicious and attacking and he had Crabbe Senior was on the ground in pain, writhing as if under the Cruciatus Curse. The phoenix rejoiced at its dark powers and what followed was a massacre that would cause the Wizarding world to once again reexamine their trust in the Golden Boy._

However, unlike previous nights, when one memory would fade only to be replaced by a new one, two memories appeared at once. They twisted into each other, blurring the actions – and then another memory was added and another and more and more until memories were crashing down like a wave into Harry's mind. All the events and emotions jumbled together and created a fiery swirl in Harry's mind. He couldn't control it. He was going to go insane from the sheer crushing weight of the memories that kept growing and growing. And then Harry began to scream.

Night had fallen and the stars shone brightly overhead. The fire had been lit candlemarks ago and was still crackling merrily.

Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf had been reminiscing about past adventures and Eclipse was off in a nearby tree, presumably sleeping. Once or twice, Legolas had glanced over towards the dark huddle in concern, but Eclipse did not seem to mind the solitude. But the elf couldn't shake his growing sense of unease.

So when a mournful wail interrupted the quiet conversation, Legolas was on his feet and automatically turning towards Eclipse while Gandalf and Gimli were still registering the unexpected sound. "Is this some strange phoenix ritual?" Legolas heard Gimli's rough voice asking, but he didn't wait to hear Gandalf's reply as he sprinted over to the tree where Eclipse was perched.

Something was wrong, he could feel it in his gut.

With a determined glint in his eyes, Legolas eyed the tree. He spotted a low hanging branch and jumped up to grasp it. He continued to use various limbs to climb up the tree until, after what seemed an eternity, he reached Eclipse.

And discovered that the phoenix was in a deep slumber. Eclipse's pain stemmed from… a nightmare? No, it was more than that; Legolas could almost feel it within Eclipse. But what could he do?

It was too much; Harry couldn't organize, couldn't control his memories. He was currently seeking refuge in the center of his mind, which was the only calm area, much like the eye of a hurricane. As he huddled there, visions swirled past him, occasionally parting so he could glimpse his failed hope, the Gringott's vault. Its metal casings had been blown apart. There was no chance of resealing it.

Just as the wind picked up and Harry was about to be thrown into the swirling chaos, the tempest began to slacken. Faintly, in the distance, he could hear a soft melodic voice. Then everything abruptly stopped; the memories clattered to the "floor" and Harry was thrown back into reality.

The phoenix was still in the clutches of a nightmare, emitting low keening sounds and jerking violently.

Legolas had to do something, so he tried to whisper soothingly to Eclipse.

"Eclipse, it's okay. Wake up now, it's only a dream…" while slowly reaching out his hand. He softly touched Eclipse's back, inwardly marveling at the soft feathers.

As if struck by lightning, the bird shot up, squawking, and nearly fell off the branch in a flurry of feathers. Luckily, he seemed to realize he was on a tree branch and ceased his agitated flapping.

Still disorientated, Harry blinked fuzzily at Legolas. The elf felt a wave of confusion wash over him.

"You were having some… trouble sleeping." Legolas gently informed the bird, feeling rather foolish. Obviously, it was more than a case of bad nightmares. But what else could he say?

As usual, he waited for the inevitable delay as Gandalf translated Eclipse's message. He wished he could speak to the bird…

Almost as though a reply to his thoughts, a small fragile voice responded, _"Thank you for waking me."_

Legolas almost fell off of the tree branch as he registered the unknown speaker.

"Who said that? Was that you, Eclipse?" he asked the phoenix incredulously. "But only Gandalf knows the language of birds and beasts."

A voice tinged in tired amusement answered, "_That's because I'm not strictly 'speaking'. I'm talking with my mind; language barriers don't exist because I'm projecting my feelings and ideas to you, not specific words_."

"Oh. That's – but – if you've had this ability, why didn't you talk to us earlier?" Legolas demanded, feeling bewildered and defensive as he wondered why Eclipse had not deigned to speak with him.

The bird seemed to fold in on himself at the harsh words. Harry was tired and still found it difficult to stay focused in the present, but the elf had sounded hurt. He had already contemplated talking to the elf and dwarf, but at the beginning of the journey he had wanted as little interaction as possible – and by the time he started to wish otherwise, there never seemed to be a good time to reveal another of his abilities.

But Harry now regretted his choice.

_"I… For the same reason I kept silent about my shadow jumping ability. I didn't want to appear too strange or – freakish – I mean –"_ A hand stilled his mental babbling. Harry stared into the elf's determined orbs.

Legolas decided he didn't like this unsure, frightened Eclipse. He much preferred the ebony bird that was flying and singing earlier that day and he would be damned if he added to Eclipse's troubles. Lightly stroking the soft feathers, he whispered, "It's okay Eclipse. You don't have to feel forced into telling us everything. But if you ever need to talk to a friend about…" he almost referenced the nightmares but didn't want to appear too forward "well, about anything…" Legolas left the offer open, leaving Eclipse to fill in the gaps. "I'm sure my offer also applies to Gimli and Gandalf; they care for you too, you know."

Legolas realized he went a bit too far, when Eclipse stiffened at his words. He wondered, not for the first time, what had happened to make the phoenix so distrustful.

"_Indeed. And once again, I'd like to express my thanks."_

Legolas realized this was his cue to leave. Eclipse probably wanted some time by himself to settle down after the nightmare.

"You're welcome. I shall see you in the morning." The stiff, impersonal words weren't anything like those of comfort he wanted to speak, but he suspected the reserved bird would not appreciate someone prying into his obviously personal affairs.

He settled with a soft "Good night" and carefully climbed back down the tree. When he reached the trunk, he hopped off and led the waiting Gimli and Gandalf back to the small fire in the clearing. He only mentioned that he believed the cause of Eclipse's pain was a nightmare; but he warned them against pushing the bird into explaining anything further. The other two agreed, but each lay awake long into the night, thinking about their mysterious companion.

Harry also lay awake that night, but for entirely different reasons.

His mind was in shock; though the event was not unexpected, the outcome most certainly was. Harry knew what he was doing when he sealed off some memories; he knew that sooner or later every block had fallen due to the pressure of the memories building over time; and that the survivors rarely kept their sanity intact.

And in that split second between when his memories fell and when they swamped his mind, he had thought that he would follow the same route as those before him and his only regret was that Snape wasn't there to witness this last act of stupidity. They had reached a reluctant truce through the war and it could've been a great parting gift to the old bastard.

Then the forgotten memories had swarmed around him, all simultaneously demanding to be experienced and acknowledged once again and Harry had felt his head splitting by the many voices and images bombarding his mind.

But somehow the elf's voice had cut through the noise and confusion - and everything had stopped. Why?

Harry knew the only way to find out was to reenter his mind. Usually, the inside of his mind resembled the Gryffindor common room and all the memories were neatly stacked into portraits or placed in books. Where the staircase to his bed should be was the Gringotts vault. Harry thought it fitting that his worst memories were located where he had so often encountered Voldemort - in his dreams.

But who knew what his mind was like now? All the painstaking organization that he and Snape had worked on was probably swept away by the tide of memories. But would he too be sucked back into the past if he reentered? Calling on his Gryffindor courage, Harry prepared himself… and jumped back into his mind.

Looking around, Harry saw that he stood surrounded by debris. If the Weasley twins had activated every single explosive product of theirs, the resulting mess might look like the one Harry saw now. The portraits were askew or on the ground, all talking at once and reenacting scenes. The books joined into the clamor, loudly reciting their history. And memories that were once locked up were now flying around the room angrily protesting their imprisonment.

If Harry was anywhere else, he would be driven mad by the noise and multitude of disgruntled memories. But oddly enough, he seemed to be a part of everything. The shouting books produced no noise and the formerly locked memories couldn't hit him, though not for lack of trying on their part.

Looking down, Harry noticed his salvation: brightly glowing marks formed a protective circle around him on the floor. He could only assume they were some sort of runes; but they weren't any of the basic ones Harry had fleetingly learned during the war. Actually, they looked like some of the strange carvings he had seen at the base of Moria – though of course Harry couldn't read what it said. How odd – but many odd things had happened to Harry and he learned to be grateful when things went right and not question it.

Unfortunately, he would never be able to fix his Occlumency barriers if he was trapped in this small section of his mind. Harry tentatively stepped forward, so he would land outside the barrier. But instead of crossing over the runes, they shifted and molded around his foot. Taking a few more steps, Harry found that the protective circle would anticipate his position and move accordingly. Now came the next test.

Bending over, Harry reached down to pick up a broken portrait. He barely had time to glance at the portrait - Victor Krum - before he felt a whirling sensation pulling at his navel and Harry was sucked into a scene. It felt like being pulled into a Pensieve memory, which, Harry thought wryly, was similar to how his mind had become.

_Memory-Krum was writing a letter. Why? Harry remembered; he was writing an editorial to the recently independent Daily Prophet. Voldemort had gained control of the media; however, after a particularly victorious battle for the light, he had abandoned the newspaper building in favor of defending his more treasure prizes like the Ministry building. That was the battle in which Harry had first began to use copious amounts of dark magic. And, of course, the press had picked up on it which led to the current letter Victor was writing to combat the questioning Prophet article. Krum's friendship with Hermione had led to his increased involvement in the war, and Harry fondly remembered the Quidditch player who maintained his belief in the supposed Savior of the Wizarding World. Towards the end of the war, Krum had tried to use his fame to counter the public backlash to Harry's supposed darkness, but to no avail. Still, Harry had appreciated the effort._

Harry's acceptance of the situation let the memory unfold at a swift pace. He could only guess that it felt satisfied with being acknowledged and soon Harry was once again looking at a portrait of Krum. The portrait, unlike all of the others, was now perfectly intact and - most of all - silent.

So that was how it was going to be. It seemed that he would have to re-assimilate every memory by experiencing the event. Sighing, he moved to the wall and hung up the portrait where it sat placidly on the wall. Then Harry turned around and went to another picture frame. He might as well start with the pictures, as they had already been properly sorted in his mind and had distinct places in the Gryffindor common room. Looking at the mess before him, he once again sighed. It was going to be a long night. And he was feeling more tired by the minute.


	9. Repercussions

Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine.

* * *

The following morning dawned slightly cloudy, with a future promise of rain. The company awoke a little later than usual after their long night. Breakfast was quick, only a few llembas, as all were eager to get on the road and make up for lost time. Legolas thought about broaching the subject of last night with Eclipse, but a quick glance at a stand-offish bird made him decide otherwise.

As they walked, Legolas couldn't help but mull over the events of the previous night. He felt a jumble of emotions, primarily concern and confusion. He had never seen any bird, nor any sentient being such as a Man or Dwarf, act as Eclipse did. It vaguely reminded him of Frodo's behavior with the ring; as if Eclipse, too, had a dark burden that haunted his mind. It hinted at evil, yet not. But even as his mind was obsessing over possible reasons, another side of him was alarmed that he thought it important. Since elves lived such long lives, they usually felt and experienced things at a slower pace than mortals. This attachment had sprung up unusually fast. It was startling.

But the day was bright and irresistible and soon all dark thoughts were swept away with the warm breeze rising from the south. Legolas couldn't help it; he started humming an Elvin melody under his breath. Not quietly enough it appeared, for after several verses Eclipse started imitating the chorus. The phoenix's beautiful trill rose and fell in perfect harmony with the elf's; their music entwined and rose in the air, livening the surrounding countryside. Even Gimli's grumbling about elves and silly ditties temporarily subsided.

'I hope Eclipse likes Lothlorien. We shall be there in another day. And maybe he would want to visit Mirkwood later… ' Legolas mused. 'I think he would like it there. And maybe the light atmosphere would help him get over his anguish.' With that encouraging thought, Legolas resolved to talk to the phoenix about a possible visit. 'Of course, this would be a wonderful opportunity to spend more time with him…' a little voice chimed. Legolas squashed that thought before it could go too far.

Meanwhile, Harry was grateful for the lack of conversation from his companions. His mind was a mess of jumbled memories and his feathers falling out; he had stayed up late in the night organizing but he was nowhere near the being done. He was still sorting his memories into the basic categories: Dursley, Hogwarts, and war time. Actually, he had yet to deal with the memories pertaining to the war; he had strove for so long to forget, and he needed to accept all his memories if he wanted strong, long lasting Occlumency barriers. He couldn't try to hide everything again.

But now that the sun was out and Legolas was singing, Harry could use a phoenix song to help calm his nerves. Thus he began the slow process of reviewing his memories of the war.

By the time dusk fell, Harry had only made a small dent in his work; and his mind still resembled Dudley's room after a temper tantrum: memories were piled on top of each other like mounds of clothing and his former system for sorting memories was in shambles. He felt grateful towards his companions, who had respected his privacy throughout the day, but an ingrained distrust made him wonder how long it would last. Harry hoped they wouldn't take offense to his silence, but until his memories were properly viewed and sorted, he would be slightly unbalanced, and prone to emotional outbursts and possibly confusing memories with the present.

But at least the worst was over; nothing seemed to be life-threatening. Somehow, Legolas had helped him regain peace in his mind after the floodgates had been released, so to speak. For the agonizing seconds he huddled in the midst of his chaotic memories, Harry was certain he was going to follow the path most others took when trying to barricade their mind against memories: losing control over their minds and being reduced to an unresponsive, empty shell, in a state similar to those kissed by Dementors. Those who had survived the process had done so because they had worked towards reincorporating the sealed memories before they lost control - something that Harry had not actively tried to do. By all rights, the maelstrom of anguish and despair should have overwhelmed him.

But the elf had stopped it. Harry had heard his voice, laced with worry, cut through the cries of battle and loss, and - his mind had instantly stabilized. How had Legolas done so? He knew that he felt more amicable towards the fascinating elf than any other being he had met in this land, but even if Hermione or Ron were calling, Harry doubted that he could have responded. It should have been impossible.

Harry snorted. And that was just the word. Impossible. There probably wasn't any rational explanation. The only thing he really knew was that Legolas had saved his life. He probably owed the elf a life debt. Did such things exist in this world?

He would explain it to Legolas later. He owed him that much. But thinking of life debts brought back images of Snape saving his life and of Pettigrew's only act of redemption: killing Nagani, the last horcrux, in order to fulfill the his debt made to Harry. He, Hermione, and Ron had located and destroyed five of the possible seven horcruxes when Voldemort had learned of their actions. Panicked, he then proceeded to cast a plethora of protective spells around Nagani before launching a full out attack on the Light's main citadel of defense: Hogwarts. The following battle was the battle that Harry had been embroiled in ….

Harry only realized that he had been shaking violently when Legolas called out in concern, startling him out of his past. He then gave a short _"I'm fine, thank you"_ reply back to the elf before attempting to go back to sleep.

_Dumbledore peered at Harry over his half-moon spectacles. Though he adopted a stern, concerned façade, his twinkling eyes left Harry with no doubt of how much Dumbledore loved his position of power over the Boy-who-Lived._

"_You must understand, the populous is very concerned Harry. They don't want you to defeat the Dark Lord only to end up taking his place."_

"_Well if they're so concerned, why don't they find someone else to defeat Voldemort! I never asked for this!" Harry shouted, his anger making more of Dumbledore's trinkets begin to shake in the Headmaster's office._

"_My dear boy, they just need some reassurance… You're a Light wizard, Harry. Just like your parents. You just need to show people that you have forsworn dark magic… perhaps an Unbreakable Vow… yes, that might be in your best - "_

_Dumbledore's eyes gleamed in anticipation._

"_And how do they expect me to defeat the Dark Lord then? By casting a Cheering Charm one him? I don't think so, Dumbledore. I won't do it."_

_The elder wizard sighed, and shifted in his purple cushioned chair._

"_Then I'm afraid I can't do much to help your reputation, Harry. The ministry has been concerned with your animagus form's affinity for pain and bloodshed. Once the war's over, they may feel the need to question you further… just to make sure you don't pose a threat. Don't you see what could happen, my dear boy?"_

"_Oh, I see alright." Replied Harry heatedly. "And you won't be seeing any more of me. I'm done with both - the Order and the Ministry. I'll fight with those I know will support me. Good day, Headmaster." With that Harry swept out of the office, ignoring the muttering portraits and Dumbledore's speculative gaze._

_Then something very strange happened. Dumbledore's gray hair started falling out and his grandfatherly face morphed into Uncle Vernon's ruddy visage. His mouth was participating in its second favorite pastime, yelling at Harry, instead of its usual activity of eating._

"_What is this boy?" He was holding a report card, waving it in Harry's face. "How did you switch grades with my Dudley? It's obvious you cheated somehow. If you were really smart, I wouldn't have to teach you how to mow the yard properly."_

_The younger Harry winced; remembering the catastrophe that had followed after his uncle discovered all of the patches of grass he missed. It wasn't on purpose; the lawn mower was too heavy and clunky for Harry to wield it correctly._

_Uncle Vernon's beady eyes gleamed as he saw that Harry had remembered the incident. He reached out and roughly grabbed a frail arm, dragging him towards the door. "We're going back to school right now, and your ungrateful, cheating self will explain how you switched grades with my Dudders. To your principle. Next time you won't be so reckless, hmm?"_

As the front door slammed shut, several of the picture frames in the house rattled. Then the looming figures of Dudley slowly reformed into moving portraits of Harry's friends; and Harry was once again back in his own mind.


	10. Dealing

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters

* * *

Legolas was worried. Eclipse had been acting differently since the two nights ago, when he had woken the whole company up with his… nightmare? He wasn't sure what to call it, as the frustrating bird had barely spoken two words to anyone since that night, looking worse after each consecutive night.

Since their mysterious feathered companion had joined the company, he had initially been standoffish and silent, more a ghost than another member of their group. But for whatever reason, Legolas had found himself intrigued and had worked to lower Eclipse's walls. Progress had been slow, but at least there had been progress; Eclipse started flying closer to the trio and began to sleep closer to the campfire at night. And now this.

Last night, Eclipse had spoken directly to Legolas, and the elf prince had been thrilled with this new avenue of communication. He hoped that whatever plagued the bird that night would disappear with the pale dawn of the next day. He was wrong. Yesterday had been a step backwards in Eclipse's progress: he had continued to fly with the company but had remained silent. Only when Legolas started singing in an effort to liven up the depressed atmosphere, did Eclipse regain some semblance of his former self when he sang along. But for the most part, Eclipse had retained a brooding atmosphere around him all day.

As Legolas started the morning fire for breakfast, he looked over to the absent perch where Eclipse was the night before. And he wondered how today would be.

Harry woke up just before dawn. He didn't want to stay on that blasted branch any longer; he had been awake most of the night reviewing memories and needed to take a break. As he flew over the camp and skimmed the tops of nearby trees, Harry felt like he was slowly getting his mind under control. He returned to camp when he saw the company stirring; however, as soon as he landed, all feelings of relaxation vanished.

Though they pretended to be interested in eating and making small talk, they were staring at him. Legolas was attempting to be indiscreet, but Gimli kept giving him hard, piercing stares. The only one who didn't seem concerned with the dark bird was Gandalf, who was off in his own world, staring at the gathering clouds.

It had been a day since "the Incident", as Harry had taken to calling his breakdown - it was much more positive than "the Night-I-Nearly-Lost-It" -and he had yet to speak a word outside of a curt "good morning" and "good night". Harry knew they had every right to be worried: Hermione and Ron would have been nagging him by now. Surprisingly, thinking of his late best friends didn't hurt as much as it would have a year ago. Harry thought the memories were helping. While he had reviewed some unsavory events (like Ron's jealousy during the Triwizard Cup), he had experienced many more positive memories with his friends. Indeed, times like Hermione punching Draco Malfoy and Ron chuckling with him over another of Trelawny's predictions were by far Harry's favorite memories of those he had to review. Memories of the Dursley's and the war left much to be desired. Harry hadn't reviewed too many of the memories that were formerly in the vault - they were there for a reason, after all - but he had made himself experience one of the vault memories every time he viewed a really good one of the Weasleys or of the trio.

So with a renewed knowledge of how Sirius died and how much that Cruciatus Curse from Voldemort hurt, Harry thought he had every right to be a little quieter than usual. He didn't wait for Gimli to finish eating before launching himself back into the air in a flurry of feathers, where he could follow the company from a safe distance.

The pitter patter of raindrops started mid-afternoon. The clouds Gandalf had been watching earlier had gathered into an incoming storm. Harry, who was flying behind the company, felt the raindrops first and was startled out of his reverie.

As a general rule, phoenixes don't like water. Rain equals wet, which means damp feathers that make flying more difficult. Harry sped up to warn the others, but his muscles felt more sluggish than usual. Probably his fatigue from staying up the past two nights. Regardless, the others had already noticed the raindrops by the time Harry reached them, and they started looking for shelter.

Gandalf, who had a sixth sense for these sorts of things, found a dense cluster of trees which blocked much of the now pouring rain. They all huddled beneath the dense leafy mass, trying to dry off as best they could. Gimli managed to light a small fire and they all huddled together.

"This is as far as we'll get tonight. The rain will not stop until after darkness has settled. Lothlorien must wait until tomorrow," announced Gandalf.

"Humph." snorted Gimli, as he poked at the fire. "At least we're close. I'm looking forward to some warm bread and ale. And I wouldn't mind an actual bed."

"And it will be good to see the Lady." Legolas added, a slight smile appearing at Gimli's faint blush.

A peaceful silence fell over the camp, as all thought about the hospitality that awaited them tomorrow. Except Harry. He stared broodingly into the flickering, dancing flames in the fire pit. He was getting used to Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli and was beginning to see them as more than acquaintances. But a whole city of people? Even if they looked like Legolas? Harry hadn't forgotten the blond who shot at him. And there would be whispers, whispers that followed him everywhere, muttering about his supposed darkness… He heard a sharp cry, and malevolent eyes stared back at him in the flames. _"Not even a normal phoenix." A disembodied voice whispered, as the eyes turned to look at an unseen companion. "He shouldn't be allowed near Diagon Alley. What if Voldemort shows up here, to take on the precious Golden Boy? Or what if he turns on us?" _Harry stared closer to the flames, enraptured. He could see the faint outline of Ollivander's shop in the background. The witch's face had now appeared around the eyes, and her friend was also coming into view - the fire hissed and cracked as a burning branch crumpled, sending sparks into the air. The images disappeared and with them their hold over Harry. It was then Harry noticed his precarious hold on the branch which he clutched. If he had leaned his head any farther in his effort to see the memory in the flames, he would have toppled off and landed in a heap on the ground below.

Harry quickly looked away from the flames, only to meet Legolas's eyes. How embarrassing. He hoped the elf hadn't seen his odd behavior, but as he shifted his eyes, he found the whole company was watching him. Again. Oh, crap.

"Eclipse," Legolas spoke softly. "Would you like to talk to us?

There was a long pause as Harry tried to look anywhere but towards the campfire. A light rainfall could be heard hitting the trees overhead in a steady pitter patter. Blop. A droplet fell onto a leaf next to Harry. He stared at it, and in that small bead of water he could hear shouts and screams from a past Death Eater raid.

This was too much. Though he was protected from his memories inside his mind, that same protection was working in his conscious state. He needed to sort faster. And he had better explain some of the events before the company thought he had gone crazy.

"_I don't know how to explain… I'm sorry for how I've been acting, but I have a lot on my mind…" _Harry took a moment to organize his thoughts. Turning specifically to the attentive elf, he continued. _"I used to get nightmares… and I thought I had found a solution for them to stop. But two nights ago, they started back up again – with a vengeance. I almost lost myself, but somehow you grounded me. While that helped me escape by waking up, the problem still exists and I must still sort it out. That is why I have been so preoccupied lately. But for your action, I owe you a debt. If ever you need my help, I will gladly assist you."_

Gandalf looked pensively at Legolas, who asked confusedly, "But only Gandalf know how to perform great magics. How could I have helped you?"

It was then Gandalf spoke up. "The workings of magic are often unknowable to us, and the will of the Valar work in mysterious ways. Perhaps this was meant to happen."

Legolas nodded in acceptance. "The Valar have been known to give aid to the elves before. It is only on the rarest occasions, but anything is possible. Some of our songs sing of Mandos, who will send back elves who died unexpectedly on Middle Earth - most commonly by elves whom had joined with their _hjarta-huildr, _or…" Legolas paused, sensing Gimli and Harry's confusion. "heart holder, you might say. The couple literally shared souls and thus could not stay parted by death. One of our most popular tales is the tragic story of Lúthien and Beren; after the mortal Beren was slain, the elf-maiden Lúthien died out of sorrow and went to the halls of Mathos. Singing of her grief to never see Beren again, Mathos took pity on her and restored both back to life, giving Lúthien mortality."

He paused, trying to remember more of the old tales that were told on dark nights. "Of course, that's one of the most popular of tales. But there are other stories of acts from the Valar. Such cases are extremely rare, but perhaps that may be the instance now." Legolas fell into silence, as he contemplated the magnitude of what had occurred, if Gandalf's theory were to be believed.

Harry, on the other hand, was pretty sure that he hadn't met any gods on his trip to Middle-Earth. One minute, he was fighting Voldemort and getting hit by the killing curse; the next, he was in a new land. However, it settled any questions Legolas had, so Harry wasn't going complain. Let the company believe what they liked. At least now he wouldn't have to worry about them prying about his past. He was curious about his connection with the elf, but not enough to refute Legolas' current explanation and be interrogated.

As the company was now satisfied with Eclipse's confession, Harry was free to return to his memory reviewing and leave the rest of the group to their own thoughts.

* * *

A/N: And I still hate this chapter. I rewrote it and it still seems pretty weak... but I figured you guys would want the next chapters instead of waiting for me to keep rewriting this! Any suggestions on how to improve it? :) Thanks!


	11. Renewal

Disclaimer: I don't own. Now on with the story!

Today they would reach Lothlorien. While the rest of the company had increasingly good spirits, Harry was most decidedly not looking forward to meeting the elves. He was making progress in organizing his mind, but he still found it difficult to concentrate on anything outside of his mind. And he was flying into potential enemy territory; if this really was the place where he had been shot at then he might not be welcome still.

Luckily they didn't walk too long to their destination; Harry was feeling particularly sluggish this morning and dreaded the thought of the usual all-day flying. He needed to start getting more sleep at night. Yet that was the only time he could remind still and quiet, unbothered by inquisitive companions.

As soon as they entered under the shadows of the tall trees, Harry immediately knew they were in Lothlorien. It was almost as if something were in the air, encouraging the life of all things. He knew with equal certainty that this is where he had been injured those months ago. But surely if he came with the company, they would ask first instead of shooting? Better be safe.

He dipped low and glided up to Legolas. He perched neatly on the elf's shoulder, secretly pleased when Legolas did not act shocked or tense as when he had first done this. Harry usually avoided contact, but in times like these – when he wanted to speak to the company while they were moving – he had to either fly very slowly or could opt for the easier option of landing. And Legolas' shoulder was nice.

"This is Lothlorien." Legolas spoke softly. "From here we will be escorted to meet the Lady Galadriel."

Gimli added his own opinion, though of course much louder than Legolas. "Those elves already know we're here, they just don't have the manners to show themselves right away."

As if on cue, an elf appeared from behind a tree and looked over the party. "I see the dwarf is back." He commented mildly. "Yet, for some reason, the Lady does not mind. You may enter. But I must ask your feathered companion to wait outside the forest."

"What request is this?" Legolas cried, affronted. "Eclipse is also part of our party, and you would do him injustice to separate him."

"Aye, and I owe him my life." Gimli jumped in. If Harry were in his human form he would of blushed – from gratitude or embarrassment, he could not say. Still, it felt nice to have someone stand up for him. Though judging by the elf's stony face, it would be of little use.

"Can you not feel it?" The guard – for that was what he must be, with a gleaming swords and arrows strapped across his back – demanded to Legolas. "There is a mark of evil upon the bird, if a bird it truly be."

Could elves know of past deeds? Harry wondered. He had used his phoenix powers for death and destruction – sowing songs of discord and shedding tears of poison were definitely not nice ways to die. But he had done it to protect those he loved! What right had any elf to judge him. Or perhaps it was his scar that alerted them. Dumbledore had once told Harry that Voldemort transferred some of his powers that fateful night – might it also have left a lingering mark of evil?

While Harry didn't mind contemplating these and other questions in bouts of self-reflection, he wasn't about to accept it from this pointy-eared bastard. Right as Harry was about to make a scathing retort, another elf appeared from the bushes and whispered something to the guard. The guard's frown remained, but he said, "It appears the Lady Galadriel wishes to meet all of you." He gave Harry a suspicious glare, as if he were somehow the cause of this decision. Harry wished to inform him that he had as little desire to meet the Lady and the guard had of showing him to her. This would end badly, he could just feel it.

Yet Legolas and Gimli quickly snapped out of their defensive stances and quite merrily followed the guard, who had introduced himself as Haldir. Gandalf, as always, wore an unperturbed and serene expression.

The group quietly made their way to the forested city; well, as quiet as they could be, considering Gimli. At one point they climbed up a ladder and continued the procession through the trees. Harry loved the architecture, even though he was still wary. More people should live in tree houses, he thought approvingly.

They stopped outside a beautifully carved door, with ornate carvings and gold scenes. This must be where the Lady lived.

"Come inside." A musical voice rang out. The company obliged, and their guard slipped in behind them.

Harry, who had flown around the trees, once more perched on Legolas' shoulder, and he then got his first look at the Lady Galadriel. She was beautiful, like all the elves. Harry wondered if there were ever ugly elves. But she also had a presence that didn't confine itself to her body, almost like a sort of magic. Then he looked into her eyes.

They were ice blue, like Legolas' but infinitely more alien. And they unfocused and suddenly saw through him, and then focused and saw within him. Harry flipped out. She was trying to get into his memories! He had such a tenuous grasp on his Occlumency barriers already – but he still wasn't prepared to deal with all of them, much less have a stranger rummage through. He fought the intrusion as best he could, but he was so _tired_ –

- and then something within him snapped and he burst into flames.

Legolas dropped him with a cry and began looking around frantically for water, but Harry couldn't see or hear anything but the fire. Any intrusive thoughts were also lost in the flames. And then his memories began flitting through his mind's eye, too fast to view properly, but enough to invoke impressions of what they contained. All of his memories, it seemed. They followed a chronological order, and Harry caught some treasured glimpses of a proud James and a cooing Lily – memories he had never known about – and then the Dursleys, an old ache but on Harry had gotten used to carrying, he was resigned to the memory of his five year old self asking Petunia how to make her love him – and then the familiar halls of Hogwarts appeared and everything associated with that. The halls faded into back alleyways and rummaging through food bins when the Death Eaters were too numerous, they could never hide too long, and then the prison walls and flames and battles upon battles until Harry had lost track of any meaning of time. Finally, a new world.

And the fire and the rushing memories seemed to last forever, until they stopped just as suddenly as they had started. The burning feeling didn't stop and it felt as if his whole body were enflamed; yet it was a good flame, a cleansing flame that burned out the rage and remnants of evil that tenaciously clung onto Harry even after he had gotten rid of the Horcrux.

Then he blinked: and everything was suddenly so much bigger than before. He sneezed from the ashes in his nostrils.

Legolas stood frozen staring at him, horrified at what happened. The others all also sported different variations of shock – even Gandalf, to Harry's amusement – and the Lady Galadriel even looked regretful.

"_Not nice._" he told her telepathically. Her eyes widened slightly and then she nodded her assent.

Legolas was still frozen, looking unsure about what to do. Harry thought he broke the elf. He should have warned them about Burning Day – but then, as Harry hadn't ever had a burning day, he didn't remember the symptoms. It had been about a year since his transformation, but he wasn't even sure if his animagus would even have a burning day. But these thoughts were too complicated to reason out, and so Harry chirped the one thing he really wanted: "_Hold me_." He demanded to Legolas. He wanted to see better and the elf was both comfy and careful – he didn't want to be dropped after all.

Legolas hesitantly approached the young phoenix and slowly scooped him up, afraid of damaging the tiny bird. He was so light… He cradled the ball of feathers closely to his body; even with the inherent grace of the elves, he didn't want to risk letting the little one fall. "What happened?" he asked softly.

Harry struggled to find the words. He knew them, they were just... a little bit out of reach... "_I die. Then I live. Again and again._" He knew there was a better way to explain this… "_No staring."_ He imperiously commanded to the elf, suddenly shy of the curious gazes from onlookers, who couldn't hear what he was saying to Legolas. He hunkered down trying to avoid them.

Relaying the message, Legolas hesitated, then added, "He sounds younger- like a child. I wouldn't demand too many explanations now." He pointedly looked at the Lady.

She smoothly replied, "I only wished to learn of the taint on his soul. But perhaps his fire has cleaned away the remnants, for I cannot feel it any longer. While I am curious, it is a child's curiosity and not a necessary inquisition. Let us adjourn to discuss the reason of your visit."

Eclipse was definitely younger, Legolas decided. He seemed to have forgotten his previous wariness that seemed to hang around the bird like a protective cloak. Now, he demanded to be preened and would preen the elf's hair in return – regardless of Legolas' protests. And the little bird had taken to perching on the elf's shoulder and would try to duck under his hair when too many others stared at the chick. He kept trying to fly, sending the elf into a heart attack as the bird would launch himself off of Legolas' shoulder only to plummet towards the earth. Gimli had jokingly suggested the elf hold a net beneath him – then fell silent and remorseful as the little Eclipse gave him a defeated look. Then Gimli started giving pointers to the bird, on how to fly again and Legolas felt like hitting his head against the wall.

But while the job was extremely stressful and the elf was worried about getting grey hairs, it definitely had its rewards. The first night, when the elf had fashioned a little nest for the bird on his nightstand, Eclipse had asked in a tentative voice, "_Don't leave?_", Legolas thought his heart was melting right then and there. So he gently placed the small phoenix on the pillow and spent the whole night awake, worried he would move and crush the bird. But he couldn't have been more thankful for his wakefulness, for when Eclipse started giving soft distressed chirrups, he was able to wake the bird from his nightmare. And while the older Eclipse may not have accepted comfort without a huge amount of protest, this younger one curled up closer to him to seek affection.

And as the nights passed, and the phoenix had less nightmares, Legolas decided he wouldn't give this position up for the world. He nearly cried when Eclipse thanked him several nights later for "making the nightmares go away." The bird had grown quite a bit by then and could now speak full sentences. He almost wished that Eclipse wouldn't grow quite so fast, but knew the bird would be quite embarrassed by the whole thing when he was back to his usual aloof self. Legolas hoped that not all of this younger version's openness would disappear with the onset of age.

A/N: Keep dreaming Legolas! It couldn't be that easy! Or could it...?

Okay, so I'm going to be late for my flight if I don't pack right now. I'll upload the next chapter later today or early tomorrow. Please review because from this chapter and onwards, it is new material!

And let me know of any mistakes in the previous chapters. I've tried to make it flow better and I've fixed some of the big problems (like whether or not Harry knew of his immortality). Also, some of the earliest chapters were really cliché, and while I like to think I'm one of the first to make the clichés (since the story started so long ago), some parts were truly awful to reread.


	12. Revising

Disclaimer: I would not be writing fanfiction if I owned these characters.

The few days spent in Lothlorien passed in a blur for Harry. He slept a lot, then woke to hear conversation about boring or deep issues and promptly went to sleep again after nibbling on whatever food Legolas saved for him. He spent almost the entire time carried by the elf, as he was too small to do much by himself, and because the elf had been so shaken by the event that he hadn't really wanted to let Eclipse out of his sight.

Harry found himself enjoying this sort of pampering. Life was way better as a baby phoenix than quite possibly any other time of his life. It was only annoying when he had a thought but the vocabulary was just out of reach or someone mentioned a fact that sounded familiar but whose actual meaning eluded Harry. However, as phoenixes only grow old in the last few days before their burning, they also quickly progress from the fledgling phase. Harry judged himself to be back to normal by the end of the week.

But in the meantime, Harry indulged in activities he would never think to do – like purposefully mussing up Legolas' shiny hair to make a crude nest or trying to peck Gandalf when he felt annoyed at the twinkly-eyed Wizard. He generally made a nuisance out of himself. But it was also the most fun he had in a long time, which Legolas certainly noticed. He didn't mind sacrificing the state of his hair if it meant the cute fluffball continued to act affectionate and happy. As he should be all of the time.

Harry even made a sort of truce with the Lady Galadriel, a few days after his burning. He was on Legolas' shoulder, at his insistence, for he wanted to try something that the unsuspecting elf would never allow. He wanted to see if he could fly again. He had lifted his tiny wings experimentally, and it seemed like they would support his weight. So without another thought, he leapt off of Legolas' shoulder – and then plummeted.

A pair of hands caught him before he could hit the ground, but they didn't belong to his favorite elf. Instead Harry found himself lifted face to face with the Lady Galadriel. He briefly entertained the idea of launching himself off of her hands, or of pecking her, but then he stilled. She was watching him with cautious eyes. Then Legolas was there, scolding him and picking him up gently from her hands, and he gave her a tiny chirrup of thanks. He must be growing up quickly, to be acting this maturely.

They stayed a few more days than planned, until Harry could properly fly again. By the last day, Harry was back to his usual standoffish self. Sort of. He still had odd cravings to sit on Legolas' shoulder, but those were promptly ignored. He was pretty embarrassed about the way he had acted – he didn't realize that the burning day might affect him mentally as well as physically. He was eager to get back on the road because he wanted to try an experiment that he needed solitude for. Harry was curious to know if his animagus age affected his human age. Despite what he had told Gandalf at their first meeting, he didn't really know if he was immortal or not; all he knew was that real phoenixes are immortal.

But the memory of the last transformation he had – at the battle – reminded him of the many wrinkles on his hands then. Maybe he was older? And yet when Harry was a human back in his other world, he hadn't aged unusually fast… Harry had always been curious, so this puzzle was just begging for his attention.

Attention he had to spare. The one good thing out of this whole fiasco, he thought, was that his memories were more or less okay. On his burning day, it was as if his whole life flashed before his eyes. Those memories he had long buried and hidden were also brought under review. While they still seemed angry at him; now it was a more muted, you'd better not lock us up again anger, than the life-draining anger of when his Occlumency barriers first snapped. He would have plenty of nightmares in the months to come, but at least he wouldn't become a mindless blob.

A jingle of reins and stomping feet made Harry pay attention to the company again. They had been here five days now, and were ready to continue to Gondor. The elves offered some horses, to make the journey faster; they assured his companions that they didn't venture out of the woods often and thus wouldn't miss the horses.

As they left the murky woods and got back onto an open plain, Harry reflected that perhaps not all elfish cities are bad, as long as your soul isn't tainted. He and the Lady Galadriel had never figured out what happened, (not like he was about to tell a nosy elf about his private life) but Harry privately theorized that a lingering taint of dark magic might have remained since the final battle.

He loved being able to swoop through the air and sail on a breeze, but as he watched the moving forms below, Harry found himself strangely wishing to sit on Legolas' shoulder. He shook his head. What had gotten into him? But he had never been one to delve deep into feelings, so he turned his gaze to the horizon instead and thought about this mysterious Gondor. That was where things would come to a head, he knew. The company had left seeking aid and information and upon their arrival some action would be decided on. He still didn't know if the Lady Galadriel had provided useful advice; at the time, he had been preoccupied with being petted or causing mayhem. He would have to ask when they stopped this evening.

Apparently, Lady Galadriel's advice had been vague but potentially useful. Which wasn't very unusual, muttered Legolas.

She had had a vision, she said. It was underground, somewhere; the heat of forges and lava an almost tangible thing in the stone caves. There were orcs and uruk-hai; enemies that the elves were familiar with from the first and second wars against Sauron. However, there was another type of creature. They were scarcer than the others, differentiated by their more human features and almost midnight black skin instead of the usual mottled brown or mucus green. She feared that they were new experiments, a further result of crossbreeding of men or elves, like when the Dark Lord, Melkor, first created the orcs or Sauron formed the uruk-hai. She did not know why they wouldn't have already been used in this past war, but perhaps their few numbers meant that they were still in a breeding or experimental stage. What she did know is that they were obviously the leaders of the other minions of darkness; one in particular spoke the most, a painful grating language that hurt her ears. Then it turned, as if looking right at her, and she saw malevolent yellow eyes staring at her and she woke up.

"It's no good though." Gimli said gruffly. "We don't know where this place is. Any place underneath Mordor could be like that place and we still don't know what their weaknesses or plans may be."

_"Legolas_," Harry trilled. _"What do you mean, created? These creatures aren't naturally like this?"_ That was a sad thought, to actually be an experiment and controlled by your maker. Harry wouldn't wish that on anyone, even these orcs and not-orcs.

"No one knows the true origins of the orcs, who were the first battle-lust creatures seen in Middle Earth. There is a rumor, though, that they were first created by the first Dark Lord Melkor. All anyone knows for sure is that they fought in the first war. And they can only be killed, for they are blinded by their battle lust and will never become cooperative prisoners. They have no morals about attacking anything, even... some say they even kill their own kind for sport. But what the rumors say about their origins..." Legolas trailed off, obviously uncomfortable with the topic.

"It might have been men or elves, captured by the fallen Valar and twisted beyond all recognition. It is true that no elf has ever seen an orc dead from old age, though perhaps they bury their own kind. The uruk-hai have only appeared in this war and appear to have been born from crosses between orcs and possibly other sentient beings. Or maybe they were originally orcs, twisted from magic. These new creatures are, as the Lady supposed, quite possibly an updated version of the older orcs." *

The company fell silent. Harry was now feeling vaguely regretful about killing some before. Legolas interpreted his look - when had the elf been able to start reading his feelings? he was a bird, for Merlin's sake! - and added, "They are corrupted beyond redemption. In the first war, the best of elven healers tried to tend some of the prisoners but nothing worked. Maybe they truly were born that way."

Legolas too was wondering about how well he could read the bird's expressions. It was, he thought, in large part because of Eclipse's time as a fledgling; the young bird was much more expressive than the older, but sometimes small actions would slip through the silent facade.

Gimli, as usual, was oblivious to anything that wasn't said forthrightly, and thus missed the thoughtful expressions on his two companions' faces. "Besides, it not like you've actually killed any yet! But you'll get your chance soon enough - though, o' course you can't beat the elf or I in total number of kills."

Harry stared at him incredulously before remembering that they didn't know he had already killed; and then realized, in faint shock, why the dwarf and elf were shouting numbers in that last battle. They were counting their kills! He didn't know whether to be amused or appalled. That was certainly one way of dealing with the guilt from war. Certainly better than his methods of coping...

That night, Harry had another dream.

_Blood. It covered his hands. By this point of his life, aged twenty-six and a veteran for more than half his life, Harry knew almost all the ways blood could be used against an enemy. He himself had experienced several of these methods; the ritual from 4th year being merely the first of several bad encounters with blood magic. But in his hands he held enough blood to resurrect several inferi._

_He was getting distracted. Within the next few hours, the need for inferi should be moot. One way or the other, this war was ending. After years of preparing, and skirmishes, and battles, this was the last. Hermione had died getting the information back to him; her animagus ability was particularly suited towards spying - no one ever suspected an owl. The curse on her had been a fluke. That was what stung the most. She had been delivering mail to Voldemort from Crabbe Sr. Apparently, the news was not to his liking and he had sent curses flying. Several of which hit her. They were the slow acting kind, which of course only Hermione recognized and realized there was no known reversal; she simply decided to keep relaying news until they leeched the life out of her two days later. Harry missed her, but knew she had accepted her fate and probably looked forward to seeing Ron again._

_So he was facing Voldemort alone – or at least, he should, if the Dark Lord showed up at the staged coup Harry was currently fighting in. The Horcruxes had been destroyed – at least, they hoped so. Seven in total. The last had been tricky to find, but Hermione had been adamant that Voldemort would have seven, given the number's magical power. They had finally found it after months of searching – both in books and in peoples' minds. Ethics had not been a priority once Voldemort began controlling the Ministry and the trio decided that meant fair turnaround. Their actions had not been met with approval from Dumbledore, but he could stuff it for all Harry cared. Finally, when they had met an old acquaintance of Voldemort's from France did they find the answer: the Dark Lord had explored the world for a few years after Hogwarts and had travelled everywhere with his old, threadworn Hogwart's trunk. In the memory they viewed, Voldemort denied an offer for a better replacement –only those looking for it could see that his eyes had briefly darkened with rage before he calmly answered that this was his first magical object from the wizarding world. _

_Shortly after destroying the trunk in Albania, the trio had returned to England to prepare for the final battle. Ron had died destroying the last Horcrux, Nagini. Voldemort himself had killed Ron in a fit of rage, as Harry saw that night while dreaming. At least it had been quick. Through her grief, Hermione insisted that now would be the best time to strike; Voldemort had yet to learn the other horcruxes had been destroyed and his grief at Nagini would make him out for blood. But with Hermione's death just hours before their planned rebellion, Harry was feeling more doubt than ever. _

_Time flashed forward and Harry was once again tracing the steps of the battlefield. Lights flashed as curses were exchanged; corpses littered the ground. Harry envied the quiet serenity of those dead, so unlike the chaos of the living combatants. Soon enough, he reasoned. Just one more thing. _

_As if reading his thoughts, Ginny and Bellatrix spun away in their duel to reveal a man standing apart from the melee. Voldemort. _

A/N:

* This is based on canon as closely as possible; however, there is debate as to what is official canon about the origins of orcs. I used the theory that best benefited the story. :)

Hope you enjoyed! I'm on vacation now, but the next chapter should be posted in the next day or so. Please tell me what you think of the new storyline direction.


	13. Discovered

Disclaimer: Same, same. I don't own any of this.

Harry awoke with a start. That was one of the worst memories; not only did it remind him of those who died, it also reminded him of his failure to join them. With Hermione's death, Harry had lost his last reason to stay. The Wizarding world was a fickle society, and fame even more so; he did not wish to live in such a world without his dearest friends. Yet for all of their rumors and gossip, Harry had never thought to be killed by the 'Light' side. Though the dream had cut off before the showdown, Harry would never forget Voldemort's crumpled form as he fell; nor of the flash of robes that had swirled out a fatal killing curse. When Harry had first arrived on Middle Earth, he had assumed it was a Death Eater – but there was something familiar about the twirl, something that made his gut clench and know it was better _not_ to know...

He shook his head to clear the thoughts. It wasn't like it mattered anyway. In all honesty, Harry wasn't upset anymore about the repercussions anymore. After first landing in Middle Earth and having the successive traumatizing events of being attacked, imprisoned, and attacked again, Harry had thought that he had been cursed to some sort of hell. But now he could admit, grudgingly, that this world was probably a better place for him than his old world. He still wondered which friends had made it, but his bad luck would probably have ruined their lives if he had stayed. It was better to think that they were all alive and well and thinking of him, Ron, and Hermione fondly.

He stretched his wings and looked around. Because they were crossing through the plains of Rohan, there were mainly low lying bushes and few trees. They had stopped by one of the few trees, which is where Harry was perched now. From there, he could see in all directions; and while this was great for spotting enemies, it wasn't so good for secretly transforming into human forms.

The next two days held the same terrain, so Harry spent his time practicing aerial dives and rolls through the sky. He certainly felt younger and faster than before. At night, nightmares continued to haunt his dreams but each day after he felt a little more at peace. It was a healing sort of pain.

The rest of the company noticed his improved mood, and they started trying to engage him in more conversations. Harry was still relatively quiet, but he did participate more often than not. And if anyone noticed that he was most likely to respond to Legolas (who was coincidentally the one who usually ended up directing questions towards the bird), nobody commented on it.

Legolas' mind was like a balm to Harry's. When Harry spoke to him telepathically, his mind would brush against the surface of the elf's, but these small contacts only left Harry increasingly curious about what lay underneath. And while Harry usually satisfied his curiosity first and dealt with any punishment later, like in the case of the Philosopher's stone, he had been too scarred by Occlumency lessons and had too much respect for the elf to ever bring the idea up in a conversation. He wondered if he was attracted to only Legolas' mind or any elf's mind, by virtue of it being a different being. He had mind-talked to Gimli once, but that was just like talking to any human, in Harry's opinion.

Right now, the company was finished riding for the third day, and Harry and Legolas were discussing edible plants by the fire. Harry had been delighted to find the elf's similar preference for non-animal food and admitted to having little knowledge of edible plants besides berries, and llambas bread, which is what Harry had been living on for the past couple of months in Middle Earth. Legolas was animatedly describing an herb that grew at the border between the plains and forest; a terrain which they should arrive at tomorrow. He promised to show Eclipse what it looked like.

Unlike the previous nights, when the company finally retired to bed after swapping stories by the firelight, Harry did not retreat to a tree for rest. This was because there were no trees nearby. Harry had never slept in his bird form on the ground; he would usually transform. Obviously, that was out of the question now. Legolas had offered up a spare tunic and they had squashed a traveling bag to form a crude nest.

When Legolas asked if the nest was acceptable for the bird, Harry, who had most certainly never slept in a nest before, replied positively. However, he approached the makeshift fabrics with trepidation, in an odd shuffling walk. Gimli tried – and failed – to suppress sniggers as he watched the usually graceful bird have such difficulties.

There were some ruffled feathers and excessive wobbling involved, but once Harry got into the nest he was pleasantly surprised. Maybe there was a reason birds built these things….

That night, as Harry lay warmed by the fire and sandwiched between Gimli's and Legolas' bedrolls, he did not have any nightmares.

The next day passed quickly and they made it to the forest's edge as expected. For some reason, Harry found himself missing the little bed they had made the night before. It had reminded him of camping with Ron and Hermione, on their extensive search for Horcruxes, or of the pleasant times before when he had slept in the Gryffindor rooms. He started remembering how, before he cut himself off from contact in this world, Harry had absolutely hated sleeping by himself. Sleeping by himself had first meant that he was at the Dursleys and unloved, and later had evolved into meaning that they had extra tents because some of his friends hadn't made it back from the battle. At first, it had been unsettling trying to sleep near strangers, but now that Harry knew his companions better, he found it to be reassuring to have other people nearby.

But as night fell, and there were plenty of trees about, Harry took his customary position in a tree. Sort of. So he might have chosen a lower branch than normal, and might have picked the closest tree to the campfire. But hey, who was watching anyways?

Gandalf was. And Legolas was. They were both gladdened to see the bird grow progressively closer to them. Gimli just fell asleep and snored.

That morning, Harry awoke before the others, as usual. He often stayed near the campsite until everyone was awake, but not today. Today he was testing his theory. He had wanted to shift forms earlier, but the plains they had gone through were too visible. He didn't want to be caught by Gandalf, who was remarkably perceptive for such an old man. Legolas, too, woke up at the slightest of sounds.

So he flew a good couple of minutes away, to the river they had found last night. A small part of the stream veered off here and formed a little pool. Harry had taken note of it because he would want something that could reflect his image. As he hoped, the pool was still and quiet.

He concentrated on his human form, on things like fingers and toes, a mouth with lips. His body shifted slowly; he needed to shift more often to make the transition faster. When the change was complete, he took a few steadying steps, letting his muscles remember what to do. Harry looked down at his hands, flexing the fingers. Then he noticed – the back of his left hand – it was blank. His messy handwriting, _I must not tell lies_, was no longer etched into his skin. Likewise, the scar where Wormtail stabbed him and the puncture mark from the Basilisk were missing. In fact, all of his scars were missing.

He held his breath, and slowly leaned over the still pool of water. There was one scar in particular he wanted to check…

It was gone. The lightning bolt – a symbolic and irreversible mark on Harry's life – was gone. He looked like a normal boy. Of course, by this point, Harry had resigned himself to never leading a normal life. But, if he chose… he could appear like one. With no curse scars to mark his fate. It was a bit frightening, actually. Harry had never had complete freedom in this way – even when he had arrived in this world, he had resigned himself to the phoenix form because he didn't want to deal with people's curiosity or aggressiveness over his scars, mannerisms (which bordered on paranoid), or different culture. Of course, getting thrown in prison on his first day also might have affected his decision.

He continued a perusal of his body, still eyeing the now scar-less patches of skin with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. Harry had to conclude that he was indeed younger. It was difficult to tell because he hadn't been that old when he came to this world, but he certainly felt more energetic and had healthier, younger-looking skin.

Harry leaned back over the pool, intent on getting a better look at his face again, when he heard a soft gasp that was unmistakable even to his human hearing…

Legolas woke up earlier than usual. They had reached the beginnings of forest, after having ridden across plains for the past couple of days. He was usually the first to wake up, after Eclipse, but today he had planned on getting up as soon as the sun's rays appeared in the sky. There was a reason, of course.

While he and Eclipse talked more since the bird directly 'spoke' with him after the nightmare; and while they interacted even more after that horrible event where Eclipse was burning and burning and Legolas thought he would lose the bird before he had even figured out what he meant to him… well, at least it worked out in the end because the baby version of Eclipse was much more open and sociable. And liked being around Legolas all the time. But despite all that, the bird was still very quiet and withdrawn – once back to an adult size.

So two nights ago, when he and Eclipse had a conversation about edible herbs and plants, Legolas had been downright thrilled. And he had promised to show Eclipse any edible foods they came across in their travels but since then, they had only traversed plains. Which had very little of anything and whose plants Legolas only had a vague remembrance of. But now they were in a forest, and the Mirkwood elf knew almost all of the plants to be found in a forest. Hence, he purposefully woke up at the crack of dawn to collect some herbs to show Eclipse. He knew that the bird woke up before the rest of the company on most days.

But when he awoke, Eclipse was already gone. Undaunted, Legolas decided to go pick herbs anyway and then have a surprise for the ebony bird when he returned.

There was always a lot to be found near water, and the elf wouldn't mind taking a quick bath either. So Legolas headed towards the stream they had passed when entering the forest; it was only a couple minutes' walk.

He stepped softly through the forest, admiring the early morning silence. While he, Gimli, and Gandalf were good friends, sometimes they could be so loud and clumsy! It was always a small relief to be in an elven city, where everyone moved silently.

He approached the stream quietly, then become even more quiet when he noticed movement. Someone was up ahead; Legolas had difficulty discerning what it was through the thick foliage, but it looked to be bigger than most animals. Another shadow creature? Or just a human out hunting? Or something else…

His thoughts ground to a halt as he peered through the bushes and the elf couldn't help the small gasp that escaped his lips. The other being – Legolas wasn't sure what to call him because he surely wasn't human, just as surely as he wasn't istari or dwarf or anything else Legolas knew – turned around faster than a mortal could, and Legolas was pinned by the most vibrant green eyes he had ever seen. Their color would put the leaves of Lothlorien to shame.

The male, for it was obviously a male, was unclothed; Legolas wanted to look away in embarrassment but he couldn't seem to remember how to blink. He looked to be a teenager and the elf's sharp eyes couldn't see any blemishes. He had skin elves would be jealous of! This was surely no human, yet a quick glance at the ears revealed no points. A blush was slowly rising on the male's cheeks, as neither seemed to break their frozen, silent poses.

A bird chirped.

The atmosphere passed, and the male was clothed quicker than the elf could blink. Where had the garments come from? They looked familiar… the cloaked stranger who had fought of the creatures had also worn such garments. Was it the same person? Following them? He had so many questions. Legolas hoped the person wouldn't run off again – which it seemed as if he was preparing to do again.

"Wait! Who are you? Will you tell me your name?" he called out and stepped towards the retreating figure.

Harry was in a mild state of panic. He hadn't heard the elf – of course he hadn't heard the elf with these human ears! But he had thought the company would be asleep for much longer and hadn't been listening intently either.

And then he heard a gasp and whirled around to see Legolas. For a split second he wondered why the elf would stare at him so, and then the more pressing matter came to mind. He was human! The elf was seeing a random human – hopefully he wouldn't equate him with the other human rescuer they saw earlier on the trip – and Legolas wouldn't stop staring at him. Harry stayed frozen. He had too many thoughts running through, but all of the ideas stemmed from Legolas not seeing him. How could he disappear without the elf noticing when all he was doing was looking at him! Harry felt trapped under that gaze, only just then realizing how intensely silver the elf's eyes were. They were like molten mercury. He did he ever meet Legolas' eyes in the past without getting lost in them? Harry was growing embarrassed. He was never entirely comfortable with people looking at him; years of the Dursley's verbal disparagements and later the scrutiny of the Wizarding public had taught him it was better to stay out of sight.

Then a bird chirped, thank Merlin!, and whatever spell he had been under broke. He quickly murmured the incantation for his robes and was slightly amused to see the elf gape in astonishment. Legolas had been around so long it sometimes seemed as if nothing could phase the elf. Except on his Burning Day. He was going to treasure the memory of the elf frantically searching for water. Legolas had actually resorted to grabbing the wine out of Lord Cereborn's hands, much to Harry's later amusement.

But he should probably leave soon before the elf got out of his stupor and started asking questions. He shifted a bit, waiting for the elf to blink. Maybe he could Apparate…that wouldn't be too noticeable, would it? No – he was going to try for a magic-less escape first. Harry had gotten the impression that wizards weren't very common on this world. He turned and started walking quickly away. If I can't see him, he can't see me… Harry chanted. Unfortunately, this mantra never seemed to work so well.

"Wait!" Oh no, and there was the curious elf Harry knew and respected. "Who are you? Will you tell me your name?"

Keep walking. Maybe Legolas would think him deaf. But he snuck a quick peek over his shoulder to see if the elf would follow. Big mistake.

Legolas wasn't going to let whoever this was leave that easily. He followed the male when he turned and started to walk away. "Please wait," he repeated, reaching out to grasp the other's hand. Apparently, the figure had been turning to glance behind him, and so Legolas came face to face with those eyes that seemed to turn his brain to mush. They looked vaguely familiar; he had seen them on another's face...

He knitted his brows together in confusion. "Eclipse?" he called hesitantly. But surely…

The figure finally opened his mouth – which also looked ridiculously appealing, Legolas noted absently. He was still holding the other's hand and wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon.

"My name is Harry." The words were carefully chosen and pronounced awkwardly, as if the person had never spoken Westoron before or hadn't spoken it in a very long time. Legolas' heart clenched at the thought. What if this being lived alone?

And then there was a crack, that nearly deafened the elf's ears, and the figure vanished into thin air, leaving the befuddled elf to wonder at what he had just seen.

A/N: Thanks for everyone who reviewed! I think I fixed the mix up with chapters 3 and 5, and I fixed that problem where Hermione somehow had two different Animagus forms. Oops.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. It was a lot of fun to write!


	14. Returning

Disclaimer: HP and LOTR aren't mine.

Harry was sure that if he had been in worse health, he would be suffering from a heart attack right now. That was too close. Granted, he had been subconsciously toying with the idea of reverting to a human more often, and maybe years later he would make an appearance or two in a town, but this was too much! And Legolas had almost recognized him! The elf did speak his name hesitantly, as if he didn't really believe that a human could be a bird and Harry planned on keeping it that way. So as soon as he mumbled his name in Westoron, he had Apparated away. It was loud, and he sympathized for the elf's poor ears, but he wouldn't risk shadow jumping for fear that Legolas would only equate him even more with Eclipse.

What if he still suspected? He had to act naturally. What would he normally be doing? Maybe… looking for food. Harry quickly flew off in search of a berry bush.

And thus, when Harry returned to camp half an hour later, he greeted Legolas with a berry stained beak and talons.

Legolas gave him a searching look, but merely asked, "Did you find enough breakfast, Eclipse?" At Eclipse's assent, he grinned. "Well, I was going to wake you up this morning but you were already gone. Remember our conversation two nights ago? There's a lot of edible plants in this forest. I found some this morning and I'd be glad to point them out as we continue our journey."

Harry was flattered. He didn't think the elf would remember when he mentioned that it would be nice to live off of more than berries and llembas bread. He had forgotten they had even had that conversation. He fluttered over to Legolas' shoulder and looked intently as the elf unrolled some herbs he had picked, describing the common locations and properties of the plants. He even mentioned the brief medicinal knowledge he knew; even though Harry wasn't sure if it would be useful to birds, it was nice to know the information. It made this world feel a little more familiar, to know the names of some of its plants.

True to his word, Legolas continued to point out edible plants the rest of the day. Gimli, not to be outdone by the elf once he recognized how appreciative Eclipse was of this information, started adding in Dwarfish uses for the plants and even some recipes. Eclipse couldn't cook, of course, but Harry still made notes in case he ever needed his human form. Even Gandalf joined in the little game of who knew the most information, though the Wizard gave only vague and mystical references to the plant properties.

All in all, Harry thought as he tried some new food that night, it had been a good day. He only dimly recalled the terror he had felt this morning; but Legolas hadn't brought up the stranger all day and so Harry hoped the elf had thought he had chanced upon a human from a nearby settlement.

Little did Harry know, Legolas had most certainly not forgotten of the boy from this morning. He had been thinking of the beautiful creature all day; he wasn't sure what this 'Harry' was, but it could not be elf, hobbit, dwarf, human, nor any other sentient species Legolas had ever encountered. The only thing this 'Harry' might be was an istari – he had moved so fast, it was almost magical – but who had ever heard of a young istari? Around the campfire tonight, Legolas had casually asked Gandalf if he were now the White Wizard, then would not another Grey Wizard have appeared? But Gandalf had only shook his head and replied that he did not know of one; if such a wizard should appear, he would probably be informed by the Valar. And so, Legolas was back to where he started, wondering what creature the boy was.

He wondered too, if the youth was in any way related to the figure that had saved them earlier in the journey. At the time, Legolas had thought the figure was more filled out, or taller, or something, but that was difficult to judge when the person was heavily cloaked. Perhaps they were the same person? Legolas wished that were so; for that would mean that the person was following them and that the elf might have a chance to encounter the aloof figure again. He didn't think that Harry meant them harm, which was why he hadn't mentioned him to the others today. Gimli would brandish his axe and demand to search the area immediately, while Gandalf would look contemplatively and figure a way to actually trap or spy on the individual.

Legolas didn't want that. He thought the figure, especially if he did help them earlier, would pose a threat. Harry seemed a very shy individual. Gandalf's and Gimli's tactics would not get him to open up. And Legolas would give just about anything to see the other's startling eyes again, free of fright or wariness…

And then the elf's mind wandered into the other reason he had kept his encounter, and his thoughts, to himself today. Those eyes were remarkably similar to Eclipse's. The bird's were a different shape, granted, but the color was exactly the same. He had had difficulty all day in not staring into the bird's eyes, trying to see if they held the same soul underneath. But that was ridiculous! Eclipse couldn't be the ethereal being he had encountered earlier today; while the bird was magical, in his ability to traverse shadows and cry healing tears, he doubted that he could transform into a human-like being at will. Middle Earth had experienced a lot of stange happenings and magical events - from the Lady of Lothlorien bottling a healing liquid to these new creatures from Mordor could walk within shadows - but not even Sauron or Gandalf had ever been able to change shape. The Wizards could create illusions of different beings, but those fell apart as soon as you tried to touch them. But their cloaked rescuer had shot something at their attackers that burned them and killed them. Illusions can't do that. And an actual transformation would be even more improbable.

He had kept a sharp eye on Eclipse when the bird returned to the campfire this morning; however, Eclipse did not act out of the ordinary. As the bird had been so skittish these past few weeks, Legolas did not want to further trouble him by demanding his whereabouts or asking about his magical abilities.

But in any case, Legolas would be keeping a very sharp eye out for the rest of their journey – he already wanted to meet Harry again.

Unfortunately, Legolas did not catch another glimpse of Harry the rest of the journey. Eclipse, having assuaged his curiosity about his human form's age, had no more reason to change again. Not yet, at least. It might be good to practice being a human in Gondor, in case he ever needed to blend in: he obviously would need lots of practice. He had almost forgotten how to talk, for Merlin's sake!, and could barely tell Legolas his name when the elf had pressed for it. And it was a different language than he was used to, and even though Harry had performed a much-needed translation spell during the Second War, once some foreign countries began offering assistance, it still required extra effort for him not to speak in his native language.

While Harry was a little worried about reaching Gondor – seeing as he was almost certain it was the city where he was imprisoned – he wasn't quite so nervous now that he had survived the fiasco at Lothlorien. At least the elves had attacked him when he was in his bird form; but the men of Gondor had only seen him as a human so hopefully no complications would arise and all would go well. Also, the many stories told at night about adventures with Aragorn, the king of Gondor, and the companies' close ties with said man reassured Harry that at least the king would listen to his companions and trust their judgment.

Harry wondered when he had started to rely on his companions to bail him out of trouble, if the need arose. He supposed it helped that they were all so different from each other, yet obviously shared a deep bond; the members of the company were not as fickle as the humans he had known and could accept their differences as a source of strength instead of division. He wondered what they would think of his human form, then quickly squashed that thought.

Days passed, and as the company fell into a comfortable routine, Harry became slightly more at ease each day. With no more attacks, by elves or mysterious dark creatures, the journey became almost pleasurable. And it was nice to take notice of the stunning landscape, free of any pollution or electrical wires or airplanes. He hadn't really taken time to notice before, so intent was he on leaving his captors.

But the day came when Gandalf suddenly announced, "We have arrived in Gondor. It shall not take long to reach Minas Tirith."

Harry couldn't tell any difference in the trees or sloping ground from the ones they had just passed, but Gandalf had an uncanny geographical ability; so he mentally shrugged and looked about the kingdom of Gondor.

Less than a week later, and Harry saw the city of Minas Tirith rising proudly out of the mountainside, all gleaming white and fortress-like. Great. It was the same place he had been imprisoned. He gave the shining stone a glare, knowing that within its walls lay a dull and lifeless prison cell. He could face this, no problem. Just act natural.

Of course, Legolas seemed to be supernaturally aligned to his moods and so as Harry flew closer to them, he said, "Are you well, Eclipse? It must be difficult to enter such a large city after being alone for so long; but if you need some quiet, you can always fly above the city. And the castle is at the top, where it is much more closed off and relaxing."

Closed off, huh. Harry sourly wondered if that's where the dungeons were. But he was trying to be in a good mood, for he wanted to be on this Aragorn's good side, and so he replied, "_It is a little daunting, yes. But I will grow accustomed to it, I am sure._"

Still, Harry took Legolas' advice when the company entered through the city gates and began the long process of riding to the top of the city. _Really,_ Harry thought as they wound up and up through narrow cobbled streets_, they should have planned the city out to be a little straighter_. But maybe it was needed for defense. He looked out across the landscape and saw the river town and the desolate land that lay beyond. _I guess that's where I arrived. _Mordor, Gandalf had called the area. That was where those creatures were. And where an evil Dark Lord used to live. Harry was glad he had missed that battle. He had had quite enough of dark lords, thank you very much.

The company had finally reached the top of the mountain and were entering gleaming gates. He had better go closer, so he could be introduced with them.

He landed on Legolas' shoulder, once the elf had dismounted. The elf's hand rose up to scratch him affectionately. Harry tried not to lean into the touch. After all, he had an aloof, silent façade to maintain. And there was the king himself, striding out the doors to greet them. He opened his arms to give everyone a warm hug. He paused uncertainly before Legolas, eyeing the bird perched on the elf's shoulder. Then Harry found himself jostled, as the man proceeded with his original plan of hugging.

He gave a squawk of irritation.

"Sorry fella." Aragorn replied, reaching out to sooth Harry. "But you didn't look like you were going to move."

"_You could have asked," _replied Harry, enjoying the shocked look that crossed the king's features. It wasn't like he wouldn't find out about his ability to communicate, so might as well have some fun with telling the king before anyone else did.

Aragorn let out a bark-like laugh. "Well, well, well!" He peered more closely at Harry. "Legolas, why don't you introduce me to your feathered companion?"

Much to Harry's irritation, he was starting to like this man. He reminded him of a mature version of Sirius, if such a person was even possible. Why was it that he kept lowering his guards around these people? He had had very good, solid reasons for embarking on his path of loneliness upon arriving in this world. What was happening to him?

"This is Eclipse," Legolas replied. "He helped us out of a tight spot with some orcs on the mountain of Moria, and has since agreed to assist us with our troubles."

"Thank you for your assistance Eclipse." Aragorn told the silent bird. "I'm sure much more has happened on your journey, but why don't you unpack and rest for a bit. We can discuss the rest after dinner." He turned and walked back towards the castle, the others trailing after.

"Oh, I'm sure looking forward to some mead and well-cooked meat," Gimli chuckled. "There are some comforts you can't replicate on the road."

"You all have your usual rooms..." Aragorn continued. "But I'm afraid I wasn't expecting an extra visitor. Where do you usually sleep, Eclipse?"

"_Usually on a tree._ _Don't worry, I can find my own place to sleep tonight."_ He eyed the white tree they were currently passing; but it was too open and indefensible. He was so not sleeping outside where there were lots of guards patrolling nearby. That would be a great way to bring back the nightmares that had been slowly disappearing the past few weeks.

"You can always sleep in one of our rooms, Eclipse." the elf chimed in. "I'm sure the bedposts or chairs could make a perch. Or we could make a nest again." Gimli snorted as he remembered Eclipse's gawky attempts to get into a ground nest. Legolas flashed the dwarf a look of irritation. He was trying to get the bird to stay with one of them, so he wouldn't be alone like before. Laughing would not help matters. "And my room has a balcony, if you wished to sleep outside."

Harry inclined his head. _"Thank you for the offer._ _I will think about it."_ Legolas gave him that part-doubtful, part-worried look that Harry had come to recognize as times when the elf wanted to say more but didn't feel it was his place to do so.

So Harry dutifully stayed on Legolas' shoulder as they walked inside the castle. Aragorn provided a running commentary of the rooms they passed, for Harry's benefit, since the others had obviously been here before. Harry looked at all the rooms the company was staying in and then asked if he could explore the rest of the castle. He was a bit jumpy after recognizing this place as his imprisonment, and if he stayed too much longer either the perceptive wizard or elf might notice.

He took off from Legolas' balcony – which was very nice and could be a good place to rest – and then worked off some of his frustrations in the sky, performing loops and aerial dives. Then, when he was feeling mostly back to normal, as if he were ever normal!, he concentrated on the prison and shadow jumped there.

The cell was just as he remembered it. Drafty, illuminated only by torchlight, with the sound of dripping water somewhere. Definitely somewhere inside the mountainside. He took a deep breath. See? This was nothing. No reason to freak out. When the Death Eaters captured him, he had been locked in a dungeon that smelled of dried blood and vomit, and there were lots of torture devices decorating the walls. It had gotten stifling hot because it was summertime.

Here the cells were clean and the walls bare. Completely different. They wouldn't be torturing prisoners here, or if they were, they did a good job of cleaning up afterwards. Harry gave a small nod. Yes, he was okay with this. No more need to be on edge or potentially freak out. He was healing.

When dusk fell, Harry went back to Legolas' rooms to join the company for dinner. Legolas had apparently taken a nap, if the messy bed was any indication. But the elf wasn't in sight. Then too much of the elf was in sight, as a door – presumably to the bathing room – opened and a very naked elf appeared, with only a towel to dry his hair. If Harry were human now, his cheeks would burn red from mortification.

"Oh! Hello Eclipse. Back from exploring I see! I was just getting ready to go down for supper. Let me change and we can go down together."

Change was not the word Harry would use. Put some clothes on might be a more appropriate phrase. He ducked his head and stared determinedly at the floor. Legolas didn't seem too embarrassed, but then he had thought Harry was only a bird. Of course, Harry had seen other men naked before – he had lived in a guy's dormitory and in the Quidditch locker rooms no one cared about being unclothed, but this was somehow different. He felt like he was looking in on something that he should see, not without permission. He didn't know why, but it was somehow different to see the elf naked. Legolas was different from the others. In what way, Harry didn't know.

Luckily, the moment passed quickly and Legolas was clothed once again. They set off for the dining halls together, Harry once more on the elf's shoulder.

He was surprised and pleased, when they reached the table where Aragorn, Gimli, Gandalf, and some others were already waiting, to see a perch had been fashioned for him.

The meal was peaceful, for the conversation was kept light. Aragorn asked Eclipse how he had enjoyed the castle.

"_It is beautiful_." Harry replied honestly, speaking to the whole company so they would all hear. "_But I kept wondering how much of the stone was built and how much was carved. It seems to blend in with the surrounding mountain_."

"Ho!" cried Gimli. "Then you must come with me to visit some Dwarfish cities! This is a fine castle, yes," he inclined his head towards Aragorn, "built by men and a few dwarves. But you may have noticed the stone latticework around the door frames? Those were directly inspired by the great stone carver Bloiler, whose original carvings can still be found..." It was as if a dam had broken. Harry watched in fascination as the usually stoic dwarf kept talking and talking and talking, about arches and door frames, foundations, and the minute differences between a sturdy stone and a decorative stone. He had never realized how deep the dwarf's fascination with stones and jewels were. The rest of the company was already aware of this, it appeared, as Aragorn leaned back in his chair to a more comfortable position and Legolas gave Eclipse a long-suffering look as if to ask why he had brought the topic up.

The rest of the meal was peaceful, for Harry knew he would not be asked more questions by curious newcomers as Gimli showed no signs of slowing his monologue any time soon. However, that peace was shattered when the topic, following the construction of the treasury room and kitchen cellars, turned to prisons. "Personally, I would have built a double-reinforced door in these prisons" Gimli was telling Aragorn. The king, who had a glazed look, shook himself at that comment and addressed the whole company.

"I forgot to tell you all last time you were here. The event had slipped because it's become a dead-end. But the prisons did hold a person about – oh, a few seasons ago."

Now he had the table's undivided attention. Harry wished this was a story about a different prisoner. But, alas, no such luck.

"You know we've kept a heavy amount of guards stationed, just in case any anything came from Mordor to here. Well, one day a man appeared out of nowhere, near a building in Harlond. You'll recall that Harlond is really just the southern port from here; everyone who lives there knows everyone else. This man was a stranger, wearing a strange cloak that was darkened with blood." Aragorn paused to let his words sink in. "They took him back here and we locked the man up in the dungeons. We didn't know if he meant good or ill, so it was better to be safe. We were going to question him upon his awakening, for he had been knocked unconscious after his startling arrival by one of the guards. However, before we could ask any questions, he somehow escaped his cell. We haven't seen the mysterious stranger since."

Harry was trying very hard not to look at Legolas. He wondered if the elf would remember the stranger he had met not too long ago. And he made a mental note to conjure something besides robes from now on. They didn't seem to be a very popular clothing style.

Legolas spoke up. "What did this stranger look like?"

"He wasn't too old, younger than he first appeared. Black hair, pale skin. Skinny. We took his cloak off, once he fell unconscious, and he seemed much smaller and childlike. There were wounds all over him. I was the first notified about the prisoner, but when I glanced into the cell I wasn't sure if he would even live to be questioned. That's what makes his disappearance so damn mysterious." Aragorn paused. "One of the more plausible theories, actually, might be that he didn't leave of his own volition. He appeared at our closest border to Mordor; it is possible that he escaped from those creatures and they wanted him back. But I'm afraid we won't ever know the true story."

Meanwhile Legolas had been comparing this scant data to the young adult he had seen earlier. It was possible... "Did you happen to see the eye color?" The elf asked, trying to keep a casual tone.

Aragorn gave him an odd glance. "Now that you mention it, yes, one of the guards did see the prisoner's eye color. He mentioned it to me because they were unusual, he said. Green – an unusual color for men. I never got to confirm that," the king mused. "But why did you inquire about such a detail, Legolas?"

The elf paused, uncertain if he wanted to mention that encounter he had a few days ago. Probably not. Sometimes he wasn't even sure if what he had seen was real or what he thought he had seen was real. Like why would he mistake the human for Eclipse? It must have been some trick of the light. So instead he said, "What color were the eyes of that stranger, who helped us fight? Were they green?"

Gimli and Gandalf both looked surprised; they had not thought much about that encounter and its possible implications with this prisoner. Gimli spoke slowly, in remembrance, "I didn't get a good look at him. I was too busy with the battle and my injury." He looked towards Gandalf.

The old wizard looked thoughtful. "I don't recall the exact eye color, either. However, they were most striking. He looked up from under the cloak – and I was struck by how they seemed lit by an inner fire. Almost like..." the istari shook his head. "Well, they were eyes you don't forget, at any rate. A blue or a green, certainly, for they reminded me of jewels."

Crap. This was getting out of hand. Harry had long acknowledged the fact about his unusual eyes; it seemed that everyone he had met in the Wizarding World had to comment on them. He had sometimes wondered, when he was in a darker mood, if they were a gift from the killing curse instead of his mother, as everyone claimed. But that was neither here nor there. Point was, someone might notice his eyes, which had refused to be a normal phoenix golden-brown and stubbornly remained green.

He looked directly at Gimli, hoping this would lessen the chance of anyone else noticing and hoping the unobservant dwarf wouldn't put two and two together. Time to change the conversation. _"I didn't notice either._ _I was worried about being too late to save you."_ While he only faced Gimli, he directed his thoughts towards the whole table. At these words, Aragorn looked alarmed and said, "Well, it seems I have much to learn of your journey. Perhaps we should adjourn to a more secluded meeting room?" Harry tried not to seem too eager as everyone pushed back their chairs to follow the king. But then his eyes caught Legolas' and he nearly forgot how to fly as the elf stared intensely back in a calculating stare. Harry looked defiantly back and flew off after Aragorn.

Legolas didn't know what to think as they filed into a private meeting chamber. He felt like he had a puzzle laid out before him, but couldn't figure out the picture until the last crucial piece had been filled. Why did Eclipse seem off? How come this prisoner seemed somehow related to the other two strangers the elf had encountered. There were loads of strangers on Middle Earth, particularly as the elf usually interacted with his own kind and didn't remember many mortals. But these three people had called out to Legolas; they were somehow distinguished from the rest. But he tried to put the thoughts out of his mind as they recounted their tale to Aragorn. After all, such a puzzle required patience; something which elves were well known for. He would figure it out eventually.

And some of that patience was paying off, for that night, Eclipse settled lightly on Legolas' balcony. He was glad the bird was finally relaxing around them.

Happy Winter Break!

I was really busy this semester with a full-time internship and classes, so I didn't devote as much time to this story. But with winter break, I have more time on my hands and have tried to work on the next two chapters. Thanks so much for your lovely reviews and encouragement! I've tried to make this a super-long chapter, as an apology for my usual tardiness. I hope you enjoy it!


	15. Exploring

Disclaimer: I don't own the works of Tolkien or Rowling.

The next few days, the company relaxed. They were waiting for a delegation from Rohan to appear, and Gandalf had given word for the Eagles about the meeting. A council would be held in a few days, to relay all the information gathered and decide on the next course of action.

Legolas was not progressing much on his current puzzle. Since he didn't have much recollection of either stranger, nor any knowledge of the prisoner, he had decided to question Eclipse about his magical abilities. The bird seemed to be lightning up around the company; perhaps he wouldn't mind opening up some more. But to the elf's frustration, Eclipse was hardly ever around. It was disconcerting, especially since the bird usually remained closest to him throughout the journey.

Undeterred, Legolas decided to scout out the dungeons and ask the guards. The guards recognized the elf and shot him bemused looks as they led him to the escaped captive's cell. Elves were notoriously aloof – why would he care? But they left him alone to peruse the area.

Legolas didn't know what he was expecting, but the cell did not hold any clues. Aragorn had mentioned that the prisoner used some sort of bomb to escape. Which was unusual, since he had been searched before being placed in the cell. And after such a grandiose escape, nothing had been seen or heard of the man since then. Aragorn said that he tried not to mention him that much; it got the townspeople and advisers worried, even though the man had not caused any known damage besides escaping his cell. They still weren't sure if he even needed to be imprisoned.

The elf had hoped that something might have been overlooked in the remains, but the door had already been repaired and the rubble tidied since the prisoner's escape. But Legolas had a hunch that some small, ordinary items may have been ignored in the search for clues. After all, who would look for black feathers? But to his growing embarrassment, it seemed that no feathers were hidden in the cell. He was overreacting. Just because Eclipse had oddly colored eyes didn't mean anything. He had never seen other phoenixes; perhaps they all had striking green eyes. It was silly to ever consider that Eclipse could be a human. How Gimli would laugh, if he ever found out about this! On his way out of the prison, Legolas questioned the guards about the prisoner's appearance. He was still holding onto his suspicions of this mysterious "Harry" being the same person.

Luck was on his side, as one of the guards was the one to bring him from Harlond, the port to the south of the city.

"Yeah, I was there when he first made an appearance in Harlond. I was doin' my duties, keepin' an eye out for any suspicious activities. Not like we experience much, everyone's so relieved the war's over and usually behaves. But he appeared suddenly, right by one of the guard posts. Old Hegdon let out a shout of surprise, he didn't see no one comin' either. I don't know how he got there without me noticin', because he was dressed unusually. Big black cloak and a hood, black hair but pale skinned. Almost like one o' your kind. Bright eyes. I don't remember the color, but around here everyone's tanned and brown eyed. Definitely a foreigner. Hegdon started yellin' at the stranger, sayin' he should know better than to surprise guards. We're still a pretty jumpy lot, you know? But this guy collapses into a faint, right then and there! We were goin' to take him to a healer, but his cloak slipped a bit and we saw blood underneath. That's when we got to thinkin', what was this stranger doin' here – wounded and suspicious-lookin'? We decided to take him to the prisons and question him once he woke. But he somehow escaped before we heard a word from 'im."

"And he left no traces? No footprints or anything?" Legolas persisted, knowing that they would have already checked this.

The guard sighed. "We got nothin'. We closed off all the city exits, searched every house. But there's no sign of him. If it weren't for that blown door, I would've wondered if he was real."

Harry had also seemed like a mirage. And he had disappeared after making an awful noise – perhaps it was a small explosion? Legolas could find no footprints after Harry mysteriously vanished. Now, more than ever, the elf was convinced that the prisoner was this Harry. But there was one thing still bugging him...

"The prisoner, you mentioned he was bleeding. Was he wounded?" Legolas asked the guard. Harry had been flawless, no blemishes or scars on his body.

"Yeah, he was beat up alright. A healer looked at him. Said he was scarred like a warrior. That was another reason to increase our suspicions."

Hmm. Another idea foiled. No wounds could heal that quickly. At least, not to Legolas's limited knowledge. And yet, everything else about the stranger and the prisoner's descriptions seemed to match! It was time to talk to Gandalf.

Harry, meanwhile, remained happily ignorant of Legolas's activities as engaged in his own secretive behavior. At first, he only meant to fly around and explore the city for a day or two, while the company caught up with their old friends. He didn't want to be a burden after all.

After sleeping in Legolas' quarters that first night, he rose early to leave. This way the elf wouldn't feel obliged to keep him company. Harry never considered that Legolas may genuinely like spending time with Eclipse and didn't see any interactions with the bird as an obligation. So he left, gliding out the window and looking at the wakening cityscape below.

At first, Harry contemplated testing out his human form again. They were in a large city now, so one extra face was hardly going to call unwanted attention. But he held off on the slim chance that if someone saw him transform, it wouldn't take long for news to reach Aragorn and the rest of the company. And they might be interested as to why he came from Mordor and how he could shadow jump. Harry may have used to jump headfirst into things, but after his many misadventures at Hogwarts and battle experiences, he had learned a little strategy. Or rather, Ron had beaten it into him after all those years together. The memory made him smile a bit. It still hurt to think of his deceased best friend, but through remembering and using Ron's strategies, Harry felt as though he was keeping that small part of the redhead alive. And so, despite his natural inclinations, Harry did not transform into a human.

That day was spent perched above different merchant shops and trying to commit the local language to memory. He wouldn't change into a human, so this was the next best practice. Harry awoke earlier than normal on the second day, when the city was still waking up. Seeing as the market wouldn't be lively for another hour or two, he decided to fly around the countryside.

He hadn't meant to cause any trouble. Honest.

But once he got outside the city and looked at the rolling green hills below (for it was summer and the fields hadn't ripened yet), he couldn't help but notice an area of land that stood starkly against the colorful backdrop. It was Mordor, he knew instinctively; a dark blot on the horizon. That's where he had arrived. Seeing it, he remembered the creatures he had encountered there and thought about the likelihood of there being another battle soon - and then he decided to scout out the area. And then he thought about Legolas' reaction. The elf had been more protective than usual after that embarrassing stint as a fledgling; Harry had been subject to admonishments to eat more, sleep more, come join the company and be social more. Really, he liked the elf, but sometimes Legolas didn't realize that Harry had seen more than his fair share of darkness and war and violence. And he didn't think the elf would understand his need to scout out Mordor. But - what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, Harry thought cheerfully. It wasn't as if he usually regarded others' disappointment in his actions very often.

Growing up with the Dursleys and then having his adventures at Hogwarts had reinforced his do-it-yourself attitude and his (as Hermione put it) "disregard for normal standards of precautions. It's called common sense, Harry." The fact that he even thought about the elf's reaction meant a lot.

So he angled his wings to glide towards Mordor, keeping within the cloud cover and hopefully out of sight. He would keep an eye out for any nooks and crannys, so that if a battle did occur he could have a relatively safe place to shadow jump injured warriors. While he was still terrified at the thought of another battle, for he was sure that he wouldn't be able to save people in time, Harry wanted to be as prepared as possible.

Approaching the mountainous area, he couldn't help but notice more details than when he had been fleeing the area. In particular, there was what appeared to be an entire city that he had completely missed. Granted he hadn't ever faced that way when arriving in Middle Earth, and he hadn't exactly been taking a tour of Mordor while he was here, but still. It was rather large - it almost looked like Minas Tirith. Harry flew closer but stayed out of view of the few windows in the towers. He didn't want to get taken down by an arrow.

Harry didn't see everything that he wanted to of Mordor and the strange city during this first visit; so the next few days were spent going back to the shadowed land. He started leaving the castle earlier and arriving back at night later. Legolas and the rest of the company would try and pry out where he went, but he just described the surrounding countryside. Mordor was left out of the discussions entirely.

The company might have been more suspicious; however, as Harry predicted, they were often busy catching up with old friends and other activities. He didn't notice the looks a dwarf, a wizard, or an elf sometimes gave throughout the day, when their faces would become puzzled by the lack of a feathered companion in the rafters or on a windowsill. But they figured that Eclipse was overwhelmed by the city and wanted solitude. And so miscommunication occurred on both sides.

Harry didn't spend much time around anyone these days, so he was understandably surprised when he returned one day to see a congregation of horses milling outside the castle courtyard. It seemed the Rohan delegation had arrived.

That evening over dinner, Aragorn introduced Eclipse to the Riders, who had been eying his perch curiously when he had flown in. They nodded, but didn't show any other sort of surprise. In fact, just about everyone Harry had met hadn't been too shocked about a previous unknown magical species turning up in their midst. But he supposed after facing a horde of evil send by Sauron, not much could faze these warriors.

The company was also familiar with these people, so Harry spent the night listening to stories of their past fights together and hearing them talk with a familiarity discouraged him from intruding on the conversation.

He was relieved then, when the Eagles arrived the following day. Enough with this sitting around and chatting; Harry was ready for action. Even if it meant battle. If he had examined his feelings a little more closely - which was not an action he ever voluntarily undertook - Harry might have realized he was jealous. Jealous of the others who could so easily command the company's time and interest, when he still had awkward silences around them. He might have realized that he had ceased to view the company as mere acquaintances and now saw them as friends; and was therefore hurt when they didn't make an effort to include him more. But Harry didn't think about these things, and so he felt on edge and combative and thought it was because of the upcoming battle.

The meeting began.

It had started off well enough. Harry had attended and had held quite a few of his own meetings; so he knew what to expect. The men talked of their limited knowledge of the creatures and stressed the need to act now; they included figures of able-bodied men willing to fight and their supplies. Gandalf added his theories about what the enemy was and how best to combat it; and Gimli agreed with every statement advocating conflict. He seemed eager for a good fight, after so many years of peace.

Then the Eagles spoke of their findings.

"We have flown throughout Middle Earth, keeping our eyes and ears out for these elusive creatures. Most activity seems to stem from Minas Morgul – we believe this is their base."

Muttering broke out along the war table. "No men have dared enter that cursed city even after the war ended. Who knows what evil lurks within its walls?" One of Aragorns chief advisers muttered.

The subdued council continued to listen as the Eagles outlined their evidence.

"It has been so long since we last laid foot in that city." Another adviser argued. "We could easily be led into a trap, if its roads and castle corridors are anything like Minas Tirith's. And they could hide in unknown underground chambers. Attacking Minas Morgul would lead to a great loss of life. The current attacks by these creatures aren't so bad. Let us continue with our current policy of attacking them after they show their face in daylight!"

"Listen to you, son of Man!" cried Gimli. "Ignoring them won't solve any problems. They will likely grow stronger and then you will regret not fighting today! We must attack while these creatures are still vulnerable. If we kill their leaders, perhaps the rest will disband and go back to the darkness they came from!"

"I agree with Gimli." Legolas added, his voice a cool contrast to the dwarf's flustered yelling. "Yet I would propose that a small party goes first, to scout out the territory. Minis Morgul could indeed be a maze, and it would be fruitless to show up at its gates with an army and with no plan."

Bickering continued amongst the Council for a while, but the debate revolved around those key points. Should they attack now, send a preliminary party, or avoid confrontations? Harry tuned them out until Aragorn cleared his throat and spoke an authoritative voice. He, it seemed, had come to a decision.

"Minas Morgol used to be a grand city of Gondor, when it was still called Minas Ithil. Though long has it been outside the influence of Men, we must reclaim our lost city from this new evil. We cannot ignore these shadow creatures any longer; the time to attack is now. We shall send an initial investigation team to try and find the key location and leaders of this new threat."

So that was that, then. It seems Legolas' initial proposal was the winner. Now came an even more contentious question: who would go? As long as it wasn't a member of the company, Harry didn't really care. He wondered if he should offer some assistance to whatever team was assembled; after all, his covert flying around the area had revealed the most strategic entries into Minas Morgul.

Legolas spoke up again. "As the team should be quick and stealthy, I will volunteer myself for the task. I have the best chance of entering and leaving undetected, out of all of us assembled."

Harry's head whipped around to stare horrified at Legolas. This wasn't supposed to happen!

Gimli, not to be outdone, added his boisterous opinion. "Bah! The elf is too tall! Someone smaller would be less easily spotted. And I could disguise myself in orc or uruk-hai uniform. They would never suspect a thing!"

Harry turned frantically towards Gimli. Not him too! A couple of Men threw in their reasons for being a part of the party. Surely, Harry thought, Aragorn would send them and not his two friends. The Men were most affected by these new shadow creatures, so they should be chosen to defend their homeland. Unfortunately, Aragorn was obviously not as clever as Harry once thought of him.

"I propose we send several small parties. Those volunteering should split themselves into groups of two or three. That will give us the greatest chance of a successful mission." he declared.

Harry couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"_No!"_ Shocked, everyone turned to look at the ebony bird.

"Why not, Eclipse?" Legolas asked. "It is a solid plan."

Eclipse shook his head, mimicking the universal sign of no. _"It is unnecessary. I can enter and leave undetected. I have already been flying over the area and know of the best places to remain unseen. Furthermore, while I couldn't enter through shadows, my abilities would allow me an easy escape, should I get detected."_

"But... I thought you didn't want to fight? You shouldn't feel pressured by us volunteering." the elf continued cautiously. "Besides, no one should enter that place alone. A most depressing feeling hangs in the air itself. There are tales of men entering and then going mad."

And this was going to make Harry change his mind? If anything, he was more determined than ever to block his friends from entering there. He could already see it – the once vibrant bodies of Legolas and Gimli being carted out of the city, unseeing and uncaring for the living any longer. It would break him. He still hadn't recovered from Hermione's and Ron's deaths!

"Wait a minute." Gimli butted in. "Did you say you've been flying over that area? Is that where you've been disappearing to these past days?"

Legolas caught onto Harry's slip as well. "That could have been dangerous, Eclipse! Why didn't you tell us where you were going each day? Would you even care about how worried we'd be if you never came back?"

_"Of course!"_ Harry replied indignantly. "_And I didn't tell you because you're reacting just like I thought you would! I didn't want any of you to worry, but I also wanted to learn about the landscape for any upcoming battles. As a healer, I needed to find the safe spots where I could heal the wounded."_

"Sometimes I wonder if you really are a healer." Legolas rejoined. "A healer wouldn't go scouting to prepare for a battle. And a healer would trust others with their whereabouts. You have nightmares and flinch when we startle you. And now you volunteer yourself for an undercover mission! You act more like a veteran fighter than a healer! Who are you really, Eclipse?" The elf sighed, relieved that these bottled thoughts were now out in the open. He hadn't meant to say this much, but once he started talking, it became difficult to stop.

The rest of the table had been silent throughout this tirade. They had never seen the elf this angry before. Eclipse absently noted that his handsome face was not at all detracted by a red flush appearing on the elf's cheeks. But he did become aware of the fellow spectators, and started directing his thoughts solely towards Legolas.

_"Nobody."_ he replied softly, as he thought of memories from Earth. _"I am nobody here."_ And then Eclipse used his shadow jumping ability and disappeared.

A/N:Oh no! Poor Harry. Just when things seem to be going well, they all fall apart.

I was not sure about getting this chapter done before school starts, but here you have it! I hope the writing style isn't too rushed... Please tell me if there are any grammatical errors or logical flaws in the storyline.


	16. Scouting

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Since when had he gotten so emotionally involved with the company? Harry berated himself. He had such a good plan upon arrival to Middle Earth. Live a life of solitude – he didn't bother anyone and no one bothered him. It was nice and simple. Safe. But he also knew that he had never truly healed. The time spent living on that mountain was a sort of limbo; he suspended his life instead of making it better or worse. He had experienced hardship while traveling with the company – but the hardship was usually followed by moments of companionship and belonging. Harry was never going to forget Gimli's acceptance of his shadow abilities; nor Gandalf's patience with his silence. Harry was most indebted to Legolas. Without the elf, he would not be alive after his Occlumency failed. And the elf did so much more than help during that life-changing event. He was always around, with a willing shoulder and kind eyes, ready to listen or sing with Eclipse. Legolas soothed Eclipse. He hadn't felt such peace with another being since before Ron and Hermione were killed.

He didn't know what he would do if Legolas died. He liked Gimli and Gandalf, but he was attached to them the same way he was attached to Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. Friends, but not overwhelmingly so. He enjoyed their company, but if they left abruptly he wouldn't be too heartbroken. Legolas was different. In what way, Harry wasn't entirely sure. But there was a niggling thought in the back of his head saying he did know what he felt – he was just scared to admit it. Harry ignored that voice.

Still, after shadow jumping to Legolas' room after their argument, Harry had been more upset than usual. Ron and Hermione had also accused him of his "saving people thing" and his tendency to wander into dangerous situations by himself. After a while, he had gotten immune to their arguments. Legolas hadn't accused him of anything new. So why did it affect him so strongly?

It shouldn't. His plan was valid – he had picked up some strategy during the war. He was the best candidate for this task. They just needed some to slip in and slip out; as a jet black phoenix with the ability to shadow jump out of the entire city, Harry felt more than up to the task. But he hesitated before flying out Legolas' window, because Harry thought of another plan.

There was still a possibility that the company could be killed or injured in the battle that would inevitably follow this mission. Perhaps... perhaps, if Harry could identify the key leaders, he could take them out. Just like with Voldemort – kill the leaders, and the followers become an unorganized, bickering mess. They would finish each other off after that. And Harry had an advantage that only Gandalf could also lay claim to: magic. He would be the best-suited for attacking these shadow creatures. Then Legolas wouldn't have to fight at all.

The phoenix trilled happily. Definitely the best plan. Too bad the company and the war council would likely forbid him from any such thing. So Harry plucked a single shiny black feather and left it by Legolas' pillow. Hopefully the elf would forgive him when he came back. If he came back.

Legolas was furious. Partly at Eclipse – why did the damn bird fly off, and most likely to Minas Morgul! - but mostly at himself. He shouldn't have pushed the bird. Eclipse still had a fragile state of mind. While Legolas strongly believed that the phoenix needed to open up about his secrets, calling him out on them in the middle of a war council was not the way to go.

Eclipse had left a feather.

He had gone to scout, the elf knew. By himself. Legolas stared bleakly at the innocent feather lying on his bed. With the birds shadow abilities, he could already be at Minas Morgul by now. Any party sent after him would be too late and their hastiness would make them unprepared. There was nothing to do but wait until Eclipse returned. And return he must. Legolas couldn't contemplate any alternative. So the elf continued staring at the feather and wondered over the all-consuming need to keep Eclipse safe. What would he do if the bird died?

Harry arrived at Minas Morgul quickly. He had been visiting the place continually over the past few days, so he knew the layout quite well. He had already determined the best spots to shadow jump to, if he got in trouble inside the city. It was beginning to get dark, so Harry encountered no problems when he flew over the city's walls. Below were a myriad of houses in varying stages of disrepair. They could hide the shadow creatures' base, but Harry didn't think so. Why camp out in a house, when there's a tower available? The Minas Morgul tower dominated the cityscape. It was the center of the city and its tallest and grandest building.

Harry flew slowly towards the tower, trying to stay out of any lingering light. No shadow creatures could be seen. Perhaps they were all inside?

The door was closed and all the windows appeared to be locked. For a moment, Harry wondered how he could get in undetected. Then he laughed at himself – really, he had been a phoenix how long? He flew close to a window, peered through the glass on the shadows inside the room, and shadow-jumped inside.

There was noise in here; sounds of fighting rang through the corridors. Harry was vaguely surprised – since some of the creatures seemed made from shadows, he thought maybe they were noiseless as one too. He hoped the racket they were making would cover up the sound of his flying. Wizards usually didn't look up; Harry was betting that these creatures wouldn't either.

Luckily the corridor was short and uninhabited, so Harry flew through the arched doorway at the end without any problems. He was now in the central part of the tower. A large spiral staircase revolved around the walls and left a hole in the middle. Looking down, Harry could see all the way to the ground floor. Or, what used to be the ground floor. The marble tiles had been ripped up and stacked haphazardly throughout the room. A giant hole was in the center of the room, with a crudely fashioned staircase leading underneath the tower.

It would be very easy to ambush an enemy down there, Harry noted. But they wouldn't have counted on an enemy that could transport away, either. Still, he waited for a couple of minutes in case anything was planning on climbing out. When no movement stirred on the staircase, he began flying – as quietly as possible – down the stairs.

The cavern below was awash with activity, and Harry hovered around the ceiling unnoticed and observed the movement below. There was a large vat dominating the center of this underground room; inside, a liquid bright orange like fire bubbled slowly. Orcs and uruk-hai entered it on one side of the room; some more willing than others. The shrieks and moans emanating from those stepped in the liquid, it's depth similar to that of a bath. Beings surrounding the vat poked and prodded at those in it, making them fall over and become fully submerged in the fiery pool. These beings were also used to contain those in the vat; as they tried to crawl out, long sticks were used to cruelly push them back in. Only a select few were allowed out, Harry noticed, and they left on the opposite side from those entering. Once out, the orcs could hardly move. They lay on the floor limply, occasionally racked by convulsions. Except, they weren't orcs any longer. As Harry used the keen eyesight from the phoenix form, he realized that the beings exiting the vats were the new shadow creatures.

He looked back at the entrance side of the pool. It looked to be a long process; only one orc had been pushed in since Harry had started examining the proceedings. Slowly but surely, they were building up an army.

As Harry continued to examine the underground cavern; he came to a depressing realization. While there were a couple of shadow creatures who were obviously leaders, he couldn't find any evidence of a central chain of command. This wasn't like Voldemort, whose death had destroyed the tenuous alliances between vampires, were-wolves, and the various Death Eaters. Many of these shadow creatures shared responsibilities for creating new ones and issuing orders. If he killed some new, others would surely rise up to take their place.

Looks like this was a reconnaissance mission after all.

He flew the perimeter around the cavern, and found another passageway that looked to be carved from the rock and not a natural produce of the original castle. Following it, careful of being noticed, Harry flew alongside the ceiling. After several twists and turns, and one worrisome moment when he flew over an orc hurrying to the cavern, he eventually emerged. He was outside again. This was the beginning of the great plain that Harry had encountered when he first arrived. Quickly flying up and out of reach of any orc arrows; he surveyed the ground with more knowledge than the last time.

When he had flown over here during the daylight, he had seen very little. But now, under the cover of darkness, a great many forms began to appear. To Harry's relief, the majority of the beings up here appeared to be orcs or uruk-hai. It seemed that the shadow creatures were limited in their ability to change the others; and he was suddenly grateful that they had begun attacking humans now and not when they had fully converted all of the beings on this plain. If they had, it would be a massacre. But looking below him, with the knowledge of the men, elves, and dwarves pledged to fight this menace, Harry thought they stood a chance of defeating this evil.

Harry circled around the plain and then through the derelict city, peering through the houses for more of the shadow creatures. However, after the fifth circle, he acknowledged that there was no more intelligence to be gained. It was time to head back.

Reluctantly, he turned towards Minas Tirith. He flew over the small outlook post, remembering back on his first day in Middle Earth only briefly, for his thoughts were chiefly on the elf he was returning to. Maybe, he conceded, he was a bit prone to dramatics. Hermione had always accused him of this, and of being too rash. He thought the war had helped with that… Reflecting on his departure, Harry realized he probably scared the elf half to death by leaving only a feather behind and not parting on amicable terms.

Legolas' accusations had hurt, but Harry acknowledged that they were valid. He still hadn't been completely honest with the company, even after such kindness was shown. And – Harry realized – he didn't want to have secrets from them. He genuinely enjoyed their company, and had come to view them as friends. They deserved better. The next time he saw Legolas, which would be soon no doubt, Harry vowed he would clear up some of the secrets he had held.

A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know I said I would update quickly.. a year ago? Yes, it has been that long. Happy new years and here's to more updates this year!


	17. Council

Disclaimer: I don't own either of these wonderful series!

* * *

The glow of dawn had barely begun to peek above the horizon by the time Harry was ghosting over Minas Tirith's walls. Unhindered by the winding streets below, he quickly flew to the castle and around the walls to Legolas' room.

He quietly landed on the balcony and peeked inside the room. Legolas was not on the bed; instead, the elf sitting on the chair bent over. Harry slowly flew into the room, not wanting to wake the elf if he was asleep.

He wasn't. Legolas was staring blankly at the feather he had left behind – quite unnervingly. Harry did not like this look at all. He landed awkwardly on the bed and let out a soft trill. The elf looked up in a daze that quickly turned to shock.

"Eclipse!? You're back! Are you unhurt?" he asked in rapid succession, hand already reaching out to check for himself any injuries that bird might have acquired. Harry tried not to croon as those lovely hands sifted through feathers. He had a purpose and he wouldn't forget it. He was, after all, a Gryffindor.

"_I'm sorry. You were right to question me."_

"What? No – it is I who should"

Harry cut off the elf. "_No, I have not been entirely forthright with you. Even after you have accepted all of my freakishness… my oddities"_ he amended at the affronted look Legolas gave, _"and have given nothing but understanding and patience. I have never been a healer."_ He announced. Before he could lose his nerve, or Legolas could interject with questions, he continued. "_I was involved in a war, different from yours. My song does not only calm and uplift – it can also drive men mad with despair. My tears that healed Gimli could have just as easily killed him. I'm a monster. And some of the others realized that, and tried to kill me at the end of the war. I fled and resolved to live in solitude_."

Okay, so it wasn't the full truth – but seriously? A man from a different universe, who could transform into a bird at will? At least he had come clean about his war-torn past.

"Thank you for sharing that information." The elf's voice was soft, hushed. His hand continued to stroke Eclipse's feathers, but it was an unhurried motion in contrast to the almost frantic searching earlier. "But I want you to know – you don't have to tell me anything until you're ready. I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. I want you to tell me about your past because you want to, not because you feel obliged to." He looked earnestly at Eclipse. "Okay?"

Harry slowly nodded back, mesmerized by the elf's eyes. In all of his travels, he had never seen another color like it. It was like the silvery mercury of a pensieve, but showing every flicker emotion instead of hiding memories.

"_Okay." _He agreed.

"So" Legolas announced, breaking the atmosphere, "You went to Minas Morgul, I assume?" He gave the bird a mock long-suffering look. "I was worried sick, you know. I hope it was worth it." The elf grinned, showing he wasn't really upset with the phoenix any longer. "Shall we wake the council? No amount of beauty sleep will ever make Gimli any prettier."

Harry trilled his assent and the two set off to go wake a grumpy dwarf.

They didn't end up waking the rest of the council, as the amount of time it took to wake Gimli led them well into breakfast.

Never poke a sleeping dwarf, Harry thought, reflecting on Hogwart's motto. Dragons have nothing on them.

Many of the council members gave them odd looks when Harry first appeared, perched on Legolas' shoulder, but they soon relaxed as they realized that things had been worked out between the two.

Gandalf's eyes twinkled in a way that Harry could now appreciate as different from Dumbledore's as he greeted him with a, "Back from Minas Morgul already?" The slow breakfast conversation immediately halted, as Gimli announced loudly, "Yes, tell us what you found out. It'd better be worth it."

So Harry addressed the entire assembly, describing his flight to the tower and the large cavern below. "_I could only find two entrances – the large one carved out of the entrance hall and the one that led to a field strewn with orcs and uruk-hai. Most of the shadow creatures appear to live within the tower walls. I saw little sign of them in the town proper, or in the fields. The number of our enemy is immense; but the shadow creatures form only a small part of this army. With our current resources, it should not be difficult to defeat the main part of the army. However, killing these shadow creatures has proven difficult in the past._" He shared a significant glance with Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf.

Gandalf took this opportunity to chime in. "Indeed. As you are all aware of our run-in on the way here, swords and arrows are able to kill the creatures; however, their quick speed and shadow abilities make it difficult to obtain a killing blow."

"_Strong light seems to disorient them_." Harry reminded the company. _"The cavern was mostly unlit, the only light coming from the glow of the vat."_

Muttering broke out as the various council members began discussing possible routes and strategies.

In the end, Aragorn had the last word. He raised a hand to silence the table; and once quieted, announced, "We should attack now, before they grow too strong and challenge our borders. Thanks to Eclipse's scouting, we know the location and the approximate size. I ride out in one week from now. All who would stand against this menace are welcome to join me."

The delegation representative from Rohan stood. "We shall join you. The race of men shall support one another."

A dwarf, head of another congregation, was not to be outdone. "The dwarves are nothing if not loyal. We too shall stand behind Gondor's king."

Various others stood up, pledging their support until the whole room was one giant clamor. Harry marveled at the unity shown; thinking back to his days of war, which were filled with political maneuverings and shifting support.

"And this time," Legolas murmured so only Harry could hear. "We'll go with you."

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A/N: Is the angst finally over? Does Harry really trust his companions? We'll see in the next couple of chapters!


	18. Conversations

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or LOTR characters.

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The castle, once tranquil, became a hive of activity as officers rushed about and made preparations for the upcoming battle. Harry tried to stay out of the way and out of trouble, but he was quickly becoming bored. It was during one of his meandering flights around the castle that he discovered the gardens.

They sat in a quiet alcove under one of the castle's turrets. Harry landed ungracefully on the soft grass, next to a huge bushel of flowers. Their large red petals looked similar to roses. He took some awkward, shuffling steps across to a nearby bush, grateful that no one was there to witness his ungainly movements.

Except, as he waddled around a corner to look at more flowers, there was someone already there.

There was a woman, seated in the midst of the garden. She was beautiful; with skin as fair as any elf's and cascading hair as dark as Eclipse's own feathers. This, he decided upon first sight, must be Arwen.

Along the journey, Harry had heard all about the Fellowship of the Ring; and of the seemingly tragic love affair between Arwen and Aragorn. He was glad their romance had worked out; and could only imagine that Ron and Hermione would have been as happy together had they lived through the war.

He hesitated before taking another step, though; while Arwin had been present at a few of the council meetings, he had never really met her. However, the decision was taken out of his hands when a soft voice said, "Please, don't leave on my account. I'd like the company."

Harry approached her, introducing himself. _"Hello. I am Eclipse. I don't believe we've met yet."_

"Hello Eclipse. I'm Arwen. I'm sorry we haven't been introduced properly before now. But you seem to have good company - I always see you and Legolas chatting." She smiled at him.

Aragorn was a lucky man indeed, thought Harry. But Legolas looks better smiling. Mortified at the direction his thoughts were heading, Harry quickly tried to make conversation. _"Yes, we are very close. I didn't mean to upset him so at that council meeting." _

Arwen nodded with understanding. "It can be hard, when a loved one is going into danger. I'm already worried about my dear husband, and he hasn't even left yet! Keep an eye on him, will you? I've heard you're quite the healer from Gimli."

"_Love? I don't – that is to say, we are friends, yes, but_…" he trailed off in dismay. To overreact at such a small word! "_Yes, I will keep an eye on your husband_" he finished lamely, trying to ignore his prior outburst. Harry looked away, studying a nearby flower intently. He had already revealed too much of his feelings – feelings he had barely begun to understand.

"I'm sure you will." Arwen replied, and Harry glanced back up in time to see a knowing smile on her face. "Please excuse me. I must go help with the preparations for this upcoming war. It wouldn't do for the men to forget provisions now, would it? By the way – I'm not the only one who enjoys these gardens. Legolas stops by here most mornings." With mischievous grin, she gracefully exited the garden.

_Women_. Harry suddenly remembered how exasperating Hermione could get, when she thought she knew something he didn't. And how could Arwen know anything? They had just met! And, Harry thought to himself miffed, it wasn't like he was some clueless teenager anymore, running around and looking for horcruxes. He puffed his crest feathers a bit in agitation. He was an adult phoenix now, and there wasn't anything Arwen knew that he didn't! Well, he might have overreacted when she mentioned that L-word. But was it because she had mentioned the word love or Legolas? Or simply both in the same sentence?

Harry couldn't be sure. If he was honest with himself, he liked the elf more than anyone else he had met in this world; and would do anything within his power to keep him safe. But Harry was like that with many of his close friends. There were times that Harry would get lost in the elf's eyes or his smooth, clear voice… and that usually didn't happen with friends. But said elf currently thought he was only a bird. Perhaps if they met, as man and elf… But that would have to wait until after the upcoming battle. And so would these silly thoughts have to wait. Now, he wanted to concentrate on keeping everyone alive.

That resolution didn't, however, stop Harry from flying by the gardens in the few mornings after that meeting.

Apparently the elf also had little to do in the way of preparations. As he explained one morning in the gardens, "I brought everything I needed on our journey. It won't take long for me to be prepared for this upcoming battle. However, I get apprehensive with so little to do. Walking these gardens helps calm my nerves." He paused and smiled at Eclipse. "Have you ever been nervous before a battle?" The question was innocuously spoken, but both know the underlying question: would Harry speak about his past war?

Harry met Legolas' eyes and trilled back, _"All the time. One of my best friends, Hermione, would sometimes put sleeping mixtures in my food the days before a battle. I would've felt betrayed, except she also did it to another friend of mine, Ron. And Luna, a girl with powers similar to the Lady Galadriel, would sometimes come up and announce her strange predictions for the battle. That helped a bit, too."_

"That Hermione friend of yours is a wise woman. I wonder if there are any sleeping berries I can find around here?" he grinned at the phoenix.

"_Except she would never follow her own advice! This one time, she spent three whole days camped out in the library. She was always good at researching…"_

Bit by bit, Harry revealed more of his memories to Legolas. They both ended up ignoring Hermione's advice, and stayed up late swapping stories every night. Harry introduced everyone but himself as a human; he made it sound like he lived with Ron and Hermione as Fawkes did with Dumbledore. Legolas was a great listener, never prying too deeply into the details but staying interested in all of Harry's thoughts and feelings on the events. He shared his own, more personal experiences with the Fellowship; not the grand stories of fighting battles, but the quieter situations that didn't come up while reminiscing around a campfire.

In no time at all, the day of battle had arrived.

The men, and small companies of dwarves and elves, had all assembled outside the city walls. Aragorn rode up and down the lines, making some inspiring speech which Harry didn't pay attention to in the slightest. He was too busy fretting over how he would protect Legolas in the upcoming battle. After a week of finally opening up the elf, Harry could honestly say that he had never been this close to anyone since Ron and Hermione. The elf didn't know it yet, but Harry was determined to do anything in his power to ensure he came out of this battle alive.

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A/N: A short, filler chapter - but hey I updated quickly! And introduced Arwen, which some of you had been asking about. Thanks for all of your comments, they inspire me to continue writing!


	19. Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR or Harry Potter.

Now onto the battle!

Hooves thundered across the plain, as the small army rode towards Mordor. The dwarves had not much liked this arrangement, and those who didn't feel comfortable on a horse of their own were made to ride double with the Rohan people. There was much grumbling but Aragorn was firm. He wanted to strike fast and hard, so as not to alert the creatures and give them time to form a defense. They should arrive with the light of dawn, and wage battle throughout the day when their foes were at their weakest.

They barreled through the small guard's town and over bridge spanning the Anduin River. Too soon, they had arrived at the base of the mountains, where Minas Morgal lay; hiding the vast stretches of Mordor. There was only one main route to the city's gate, as road crossed over yet another river sinuously entwined around the castle walls. Luckily, during the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the major defenses surrounding the ancient city had been destroyed.

The sun had now fully risen and begun its daily trek across the sky. The small companies lined up, looking for all the world like they were in a parade or something equally innocuous. There was no enemy to meet them at the gates.

Aragorn once again thundered up and down the lines on his steed, shouting orders. This time, Harry paid attention to what he shouted.

"We head for the citadel! Destroy all machines used to produce those creatures! Then we march for Mordor!"

Harry didn't think it would be that simple, but he dutifully followed the advancing army as it stormed towards the keep. Luckily, while most of the warriors were in groups based on species, Gimli, Gandalf, and Legolas remained together as a unit. While Harry's primary concern was the elf, he was glad to keep an eye on the other two companions.

The orderly marching of the companies quickly fell away once inside the gate of Minas Morgul. While the majority of warriors marched towards the main tower, smaller groups fanned off to scour other buildings within the city. The main body of the army quickly arrived at the large oaken door of the keep towering over the rest of the city. The doors were slammed open with a mighty bang, and all pretense of quiet was lost. With a war cry, hundreds of men began streaming into the building. Harry waited until Legolas and Gimli had reached the main door – Gandalf having disappeared to somewhere – and then swooped down to enter the building himself.

It was chaos. Most men were streaming down the large staircase in the cavernous main room, but others were running up the stairs or heading down branching corridors. There was lots of shouting and a growing clamor from metal on metal. Sure enough, the shadow creatures were becoming alert to their presence. While the orcs and uruk-hai would be trapped in the basement, the shadow creatures….

Oh. There was one.

From his aerial viewpoint, Harry saw a shadow creature suddenly appear in the main cavern and stab an unaware man. Looks like they were awake now. His musing was cut short as that shadow creature opened the floodgates for the rest of them to start shadow jumping everywhere. Soon, the main floor was covered swarming.

While the creatures had an obvious advantage, their transportation abilities were much more limited in this populated space. Harry watched as a couple of men successfully stabbed a shadow creature to death, its' still form giving one last half-hearted flicker before coming to rest motionless on the floor. They could be killed.

In his preoccupation with the appearance, Harry lost sight of Legolas and Gimli when he looked for them.

Frantically he looked around – there was no sight of the dwarf or elf in the cavern. Quickly, he transported underground. He flew over the vast expanse, cursing himself for not placing a tracking charm on either companion.

If the upstairs was hectic, it was nothing compared to the chaos underground. Most of the army seemed to have made it down here – and men, elves, and dwarves were busy fighting the many uruk-hai and orcs. Others were shooting arrows or hacking at the orcs trying to escape the vats – unlike before, when the leader uruk-hai had kept them contained in the vats, now men were frantically trying to keep them from escape, obviously terrified of the chance of being hit by this strange liquid causing the orcs so much pain. The shadow creatures down here were doing a much better job of avoiding hits – there was more room to teleport out of the way from a lethal blow.

Amongst all the battle cries, and the ring of swords, Harry finally heard the words that made his heart soar.

"Fifteen!" "Nineteen!"

There they were. The duo was off to the side of the cavern, single-handedly taking down the orcs that surrounding them from all sides.

He wouldn't be much use as a bird. Harry decided suddenly, flapping his wings overhead to an alcove close by. He transformed and conjured robes in one fluid movement, and stalked towards his wayward elf.

In his defense, Harry tried to stealthily make his way towards Legolas. In case anything happened, he wanted to be nearby. He must not have been very subtle however, as the elf flashed him a grin when he made it closer. "Back again?" he asked. "We need to talk later" he added, as he danced around Harry to kill another creature and cried, "Twenty-one!"

Harry noticed that both Legolas and Gimli took a rather light-hearted view towards battle.

The dwarf responded with a "Twenty!" and turned to plunge into an even greater swarm of orcs.

He was worried that would get them killed.

For the next few shouts of "Twenty three" "Twenty five" and "Thirty!", Harry never strayed far from the elf. The two moved in tandem, as if dancing instead of fighting, with Harry shooting spells as Legolas notched more arrows. While the elf had an uncanny shot with his bow, Harry could almost hear Ron complaining about poor battle strategy. Legolas did possess two long knives, but he almost refused to use them unless the enemy was pressed firmly to his side.

Despite his preference, the orcs were becoming thicker and Legolas was beginning to use his knives in favor of his longbow. The downside was that this gave Legolas a distinct advantage in total kills. "Thirty three!" He cried, and Harry heard Gimli mutter a low curse. In response, the dwarf let out a loud war cry, raised his axe, and plunged into the thickest area of orcs.

Harry was horrified. To leave Legolas' side in battle was unthinkable. But he also cared for the dwarf. He started to put more power into his spells, which began to push the orcs back and create a bit more space towards the direction Gimli had disappeared.

But before he could completely eliminate the orcs separating them, a shadow creature morphed into being. Harry started chanting out an incendio, but it quickly shadow apparated out before the words could leave his lips. It reappeared only a few feet away, this time in front of the blonde elf. It raised a dagger and thrust it towards Legolas before Harry had a chance to react. Harry thought his heart stopped as he watched Legolas clutch his stomach and sank towards the ground.

Harry let out a wave of wordless magic which barreled into the creature and knocked it on the ground. He reacted instinctively, transforming into Eclipse and crying over the elf. No thoughts were given to the possibility of bystanders witnessing his transformation, nor of the elf figuring out his long-kept secret. All his thoughts were of Legolas. _Let him be alright, let him be alright_. Harry thought desperately. _Just please, don't let him die!_

From Legolas' perspective, it was all a blur. One moment, he and Gimli had been bantering as usual. Back during the Fellowship, they had initially held mutual animosity for each other. While the elf and dwarf were now friends, they maintained some friendly competition in battle by shouting out the number of kills to compare each others' fighting prowess. It was no different in this battle, as Legolas had started off their game with a notched arrow and a shout of "One!" as they descended down the staircase.

The two had immediately gravitated towards the largest group of enemies that they could find. Eclipse was nowhere in sight, but Legolas figured the bird was already busy healing fighters upstairs. Besides, as a healer, the elf wasn't as worried about Eclipse getting hurt. He was concerned, of course, that Eclipse wouldn't be able to resist his old warrior's mindset but knowing of the bird's shadow ability and past, the elf tried to minimize his worry about Eclipse's absence.

And before long, he couldn't worry if he tried. His mind was completely focused on the enemies surrounding him and Gimli. They were now set a little ways away from the other groups of fighters, and were in a thick of orcs. The elf grinned, and shot off more arrows. He always enjoyed a challenge.

Though the two of them were fighting off to the side, Legolas was surprised but unfazed to see his mysterious stranger appear out of the corner of his eye. He shot an orc nearby and turned to face the figure. He wasn't going to let him out of sight as easily this time.

"Back again? We need to talk later." He promised, enjoying the startled look that briefly passed over the stranger's expression.

Then he had a clear shot of several orcs, and the elf accordingly adjusted his bow and focused on the battle. "Twenty-one!" He cried out victoriously, well aware that this put him ahead of Gimli.

The three of them worked in tandem for a bit, and Legolas admired the fluidity of the stranger's movements. No human was that graceful, he was certain. A small part of him may have wanted to impress this stranger, and he quickly yelled out a succession of numbers; to which Gimli responded with a war cry and dove into a thicker swarm of the enemy. Legolas kept an ear alert for the dwarf's increasing tally. A small part of him was slightly worried that the dwarf had disappeared. The enemy was growing and Legolas began to use his knives to keep them at bay. Despite his concentration, his focus was interrupted as a figure appeared out of nowhere in front of him. For that split second, he thought that Eclipse had shadow jumped to him and he hesitated a moment too long before realizing it was a shadow creature. The thing stabbed him in the stomach, and Legolas let out a surprised gasp and placed a hand over his stomach.

He sank to the ground and risked a longer glance at his stomach. He was very worried that this momentary lapse would cause the orcs to be all over him, but when he looked back up to face his attackers they were all much farther away than before. And many weren't getting back up from the looks of it. He turned his head to look for enemies from behind, and was met with the dark plumage of his favorite bird. "Eclipse?" he murmured in confusion. He had been surrounded by orcs. What had happened? Then the bird started crying over his injury and Legolas watched in fascination as the cut began to seal itself before his eyes.

But Harry wasn't the only one who watched the elf fall. Several of the other shadow creatures had seen him go down and had seen the One-Who-Is-Different change into a bird. That being had their abilities and was difficult to kill. Now would be the perfect time to attack.

Harry was still huddled over Legolas, tears falling onto the elf's injury, when he sensed movement nearby. No one would get to Legolas! He whipped his head up, tears flying through the air, as he turned to face the attackers. There were three of them. And he was in phoenix form. Harry's mind raced as he quickly assessed the situation. It did not look promising. But Harry had survived worse than this – and he would do anything to keep the elf from harm. Letting out angry clicks, he was going to launch himself at the creatures when someone else did it for him. The being made short work of the creatures, knocking them unconscious with a rusty sword.

It was a naked man. And Harry was pretty sure that Aragorn clothed his army. His skin was caked with filth and blood, and his body seemed vaguely … deformed.

The man swallowed thickly. "This is the first time – so long – I can _think_." He licked his cracked lips and looked up at Harry, with a slightly off look in his eyes. It was the same look Sirius sometimes wore, when he was thinking of Azkaban. A not-all-there sort of look. He looked down to his finger in fascination, moving them slowly as they obeyed his commands. "I -" he trailed off. "I'm sorry. For hurt him." The words came out strangely, with an accent. Harry didn't look where the man's fingers were gesturing. He knew who was behind him. Legolas.

"_You were that creature?" _He asked. Now wasn't that unexpected. Legolas let out a gasp as he heard Harry's question, making Harry relieved the elf was still lucid.

"Please" he begged hoarsely, "The others... we were all elf or man before the Wizard came. And then there was pain, pain, pain, pain..." his voice trailed off in a singsong. He visible shook himself. "I couldn't think. Until you." He mumbled, before sinking in on himself and passing out on the ground.

Harry glanced at Legolas to double check that he was indeed healed and to ascertain his opinion of this tale.

Legolas looked ashen. "There were tales," he whispered, his eyes unable to tear themselves away from the man. "Ever since Morgoth. Of how prisoners were twisted beyond recognition. Of how the orcs and uruk-hai weren't truly created from scratch, they were molded from other beings. Have we been killing men all along?"

Harry took to the air. He was loathe to leave Legolas, but the elf was already getting to his feet. And there was only one way to test the theory. He started a soft, mournful trill, that was laced with a bit of magic. _Don't mind me..._ he conveyed the magic through the melody. _Just relax. I'm nothing more than a shadow..._

Healing required concentration and he didn't want to get speared out of the sky.

It turns out that phoenix tears cured a lot of things, including dark magic transformations. As Harry flew over the cavernous hallway, his teardrops fell and hit more than just the shadow creatures. Orc and uruk-hai also began to transform, to the bewilderment of those in Aragorn's forces. Some of the newly transformed men continued to attack, disregarding their new look; but many more fled or simply stood transfixed, prodding their new features in disbelief.

Harry didn't pay too much attention to the commotion below him, instead concentrating on flying and crying around the cavern and up into the main hall. So concentrated on these two tasks, he hardly noticed that his wings became more and more sluggish or that he had started dipping erratically from the air. He had to help as many of these creatures as he could! He knew the pain and frustration of being tainted by a dark substance, and he wouldn't allow these beings to live with it, if it were in his power to heal them. It wasn't until his vision – which had been clouded by tears – began to swim with darkness did Harry realize he was falling.

His last conscious thought was of hands cushioning his fall, and curling around to cradle him.

A/N: One of my longest chapters yet! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review - I'd love to hear your thoughts on Harry's healing and the true nature of orcs. And has Legolas finally connected the dots between this stranger and Eclipse? Find out next chapter!


	20. Recovery

Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR or Harry Potter.

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_It was dark and cramped. Harry hated both – it reminded him too much of his cupboard and, now, of his time imprisoned at Malfoy Manor. Which Dumbledore probably knew, Harry thought viciously. _

_Harry had only just escaped from the Manor, after finally transforming into a phoenix again. After his first fiery transformation, Hermione had theorized that his mind couldn't handle the magical qualities of his animagus. "There's a reason no Wizard transforms into a magical animagus, Harry. Transformations are all about balance." She had been just as shocked as he had about his phoenix form. Hermione thought it had something to do with the killing curse; "I mean, what else sets you apart from other wizards – sorry Harry." She thought that his 'rebirth' from the Killing Curse led to the phoenix affinity. _

_Unfortunately, the rest of the Wizarding world didn't agree – especially since some of his phoenix powers were unheard of. While shadow phoenix are rare, their ability to jump through shadows was well documented. What was not documented was lethal tears and a song that could cripple the minds of men. After Harry's spectacular escape from Malfoy Manor, surviving Death Eaters published pictures of the vicious aftermath: of flesh irrevocably burnt by tears and of hollow eyed Wizards driven mad by something other than the Cruciatus curse. The public turned on him and Harry was taken from force by Aurors from the Hospital Wing where he was being patched up._

_Of course, Dumbledore had stopped by to visit his cell in the Ministry. He had blathered on about the wrongness of this form and how Harry should have trusted him with an Animagus attempt. "The ministry, too, feels betrayed my boy. They think you might be turning dark – and I too, fear for your wellbeing. You need to be trained. I know of some people who can help, my boy. Just think – you can come back to Hogwarts and prepare in peace for the final battle. I just need a guarantee you won't go dark."Dumbledore smiled congenially. "Well, you won't get it." Harry spat at him. "I'm tired of being your pawn. I killed a man my first year. And how? After getting through traps set for a first year." He took a fortifying breath. "How did those Death Eaters know where I was hiding? You were the Secret Keeper" he hissed out. "They tortured me, you know." Harry's voice cracked and he tried to fight back the wave of hopelessness those memories brought up. "Snape wouldn't look me in the eye every time he walked past the dungeons. No one came. Were you hoping I died down there? We've found most of the Horcruxes. If you want the credit for killing another Dark Lord, you can have it."_

_There was silence before – "My boy, I didn't know you felt this way. Please trust me. I had nothing to do with your capture and the Order worked hard to try and free you. But you know, if you had been trained, this might not have happened."_

"_Save your mechanizations for someone else. I'd rather stay here than work for you again. Your last 'trainings' nearly shredded my mind, remember?" Harry rejoined. If he let Dumbledore go on, it would only lead to him doing something rash. _

_Dumbledore bowed his head in acquiescence. "Very well. Bravery comes in many forms – perhaps someone as smart as a fox or as wise as an owl may be of use instead. They could sneak unnoticed into more dangerous areas."_

_Harry froze. He knew of Ron and Hermione's transformations. The trio had kept it a secret from everyone. How had he found out? "Wait." Harry's voice caught. "This training. Is it solo?"_

_Dumbledore smiled triumphantly and turned his robes with a flourish. "I'll go talk to the Minister, Harry. They may have overreacted at your transformation."_

_Then everything swirled to black. Harry stepped back. It wasn't his vision that churned, it was robes. Robes he caught out of the corner of his eye. They flared out, billowing like a cape from a bad Muggle magician's. As a green light hurtled his way, Harry's last thought was that the color was wrong – the robes were black, and undistinguished. _

Harry awoke with a start. He was surrounded by white: fluffy pillows nestled against him and a sheer curtain partitioned off the bed he found himself in. The hospital wing? He had to get out before anyone caught him here.

He tried standing but forgot that he was in bird form. The ungainly feet and weight of his wings quickly toppled him back into a heap on the bed. Harry almost panicked as a figure moved, causing ripples across the curtains. The fabric was pulled back, revealing a very familiar face. Legolas. His heart beat calmed, but Harry couldn't trust the elf yet. "_What happened?_" he asked, guardedly. The memories were coming back to him. The initial fight, Legoloas getting hurt, - "_Are you okay? You were stabbed_." Harry careened his neck forward, in an effort to examine the elf's chest.

Said elf chuckled and lifted up his tunic for inspection. "I should ask the same of you! You fainted from exhaustion. As you can see, I'm just fine thanks to your healing." If Harry were human, he would have blushed – from the teasing or the elf's toned chest, he wasn't sure. "Now before you ask – here is what I know. Once you realized that the orcs were… human" Legolas said, disquieted, "you started healing them. You got a good many, and I tried to tell all of Aragorn's forces what was happening. Of course, when something transforms before your very eyes… well, they didn't need much convincing. Some of the humans continued to fight, but many were disoriented and we captured them. There's now about – oh, say 200 or so, men and elves residing in the heavily guarded healing wing. They're understandably in shock and we're not quite sure what to do with them, to be honest. But I'm getting off track. You fainted before all of them could be changed. Aragorn's men and the dwarves are exploring many of the tunnels now, to capture or kill, I don't know. I've been by your side this whole time so I'm afraid that's the latest news from me." The elf grinned, but it couldn't completely cover the lines of worry.

Harry was relieved by the explanation. Legolas didn't seem to suspect that he and the mysterious stranger were the same. He was glad that many of the orcs had been saved but worried about those he hadn't yet healed. He would have to go out and find more of them soon. But first he needed to know –

"_How long was I out?"_ Harry remembered the last time he had magical exhaustion; his body had almost shut down for two days.

"Three days." The worry was clearly evident in the elf's voice again. "Speaking of which, you must be hungry. I have berries, and llembas and water right here. I was going to get a healer to check up on you but no one knows phoenix anatomy, so –"

"_Water is appreciated. Thank you_." Harry cut off the tirade before Legolas could keep babbling. It amused him to see the normally composed elf almost tripping over himself.

Harry stayed the rest of the day, unwillingly, in bed. Though he could privately admit that he didn't try very hard to escape either. Legolas' admonitions to stay still and rest were made easier when the elf carded his fingers through Harry's feathers.

The visitors also helped; Gandalf stopped by, his normally expressive eyes fathomless as he thanked Harry for breaking the curse on the orcs. When the istari left, muttering about healing programs, Legolas murmured "He's taking it particularly hard, since he also has magic. He feels guilty for not realizing sooner that some remained slaves to a curse by one of his kind."

Arwen stopped by shortly after, to tell Harry how thankful some of the men were. "They'll have a long road to recovery, of course. But I've picked up a thing or two from my father as well." She announced with finality. Harry was forcibly reminded of Hermione's crusade about the house elves. These men would be getting help, it seemed – whether they wanted it or not.

Everything was reassuring until Aragorn walked in, bringing a trail of leaders behind him. The men from Rohan, the dwarves from Erebon and Aragorn's finest crowded around the bed. Harry tensed up, ready for a confrontation but Aragorn said apologetically, "Sorry to disturb you Eclipse, but we wanted to ask about your previous scouting mission."

He indicated from another man – a general, Harry believed – to begin.

"Some of our men – and dwarves – have gone through Minas Morgul to continue to capture or drive back the orcs. Our finest warriors entered the ruins of that most feared site, Barad-dûr. As you may know, the tower was destroyed with Sauron's fall; yet while the rubble filled many of the pits and caverns below, there are still areas the shadow creatures could hide. While many still fear these ruins, the bravest entered – and still haven't returned." The grim faced man fell silent, as a dwarf took up the narrative. "We are loathe to ask this of you, for your healing was so great that we saw you drop from the sky, but could you fly another surveillance mission? The last went well and we fear for our comrade's lives."

Legolas then interjected. "You said it yourself, it was a great act of healing. Eclipse needs more rest before such a mission. He should wait at least two or three more days." The elf seemed to be directing the argument more towards Harry than the rest of the company.

Harry relented under the heavy stare. _"Two days. Then I will be awake for as long as I have been asleep."_ It was out of the question whether or not he would go, and Harry was glad the elf realized that. While he was sure Legolas would prefer he wait a week, there were possible lives at stake. And he had been feeling coped up today.

Gimli stopped by as the sun was beginning to set. Harry was pleased when his scruffy face popped in the doorway, announcing, "Come on, Legolas, it's about time you joined the others to eat! I'll stay with Eclipse." Though he would never admit it out loud, the phoenix was slightly upset when the dwarf didn't appear earlier in the day. He considered Gimli a friend.

Harry soon figured out why the dwarf had waited until dinner to appear, after Legolas left the door softly closing behind him.

"So, Eclipse. That was a good bit of healing you did back there." He started. When Harry remarked on how well he seemed to handle the concept of orcs turned human, the dwarf confided "When you fight with a wizard, nothing fazes you after a while. Gandalf's just upset because he's not used to being surprised."

"Besides, if anything would have shocked me, it would have been the transformation that happened before you were a bird."

Harry froze. He hadn't given any thought at the time to someone witnessing his transformation; instead, his whole world had been focused on Legolas. But Gimli had only briefly disappeared from sight… did this mean he had seen?

"Don't be like that!" the dwarf chided. "And don't disappear either. Arda knows how skittish you are. That's why I brought this up, when everyone's at dinner. But I do wish to know: how long have you been able to transform into a human? And were you ever going to trust us with that knowledge?"

At Eclipse's shocked silence, the dwarf rambled on, "I know you didn't trust us at first, but I thought we were friends now… comrades at least. I've seen you and Legolas spending a lot of time together; do you trust the elf over me?" he accused.

"_No! I have not told Legolas. Or anyone else, for that matter."_ Harry felt the need to clarify before Gimli could really work himself up. This was another way the dwarf resembled Ron; he let his feelings stew before they finally boiled over. Thankfully, Ron had overcome his jealousy and his suspicion of Harry's designs on Hermione; however in this case, Harry could readily admit that he _was_ spending a disproportionate amount of time with Legolas.

"_Before I travelled here, I was in a war of my own. The victory… came at great cost. It was easier to forget the past by remaining a phoenix when I came here. I have alluded to this with Legolas, but I have told the story as if I were only a bird."_

"So you are human then? A wizard such as Gandalf?" Gimli wondered.

"_Of a sort."_ Eclipse bobbed his head in a parody of a nod. "_It is a different type of magic, but it is magic all the same._"

"When will you tell the others? And will you join us as a human sometime? Not that you need to –" Gimli hastened to add. "I met you as a phoenix and I've grown to call you a friend all the same."

Harry let out an almost audible sigh. This conversation had gone remarkably well, but he still wasn't keen to deal with the drama of Gandalf and Legolas. And those two were his friends; if word got out to others in the castle, they might not react as favorably. He had grown to respect Aragorn, and had accepted the explanation for his imprisonment… but that didn't mean that his initial experience of Middle Earth as a human hadn't affected him.

"_I will tell Legolas and Gandalf – soon. But now there is the battle to think of. Once things have quieted down, maybe…" _

He was stalling and Gimli knew it. "Soon. I will remind you." The dwarf gave a decisive nod, and then the talk thankfully turned to lighter matters. But Harry tossed and turned that night, dreaming of Legolas rejecting him or Gandalf casting him out with fear.

* * *

The next day passed excruciatingly slow. Harry had thought to leave early, but Legolas was like a bur and never left his side. In an effort to distract the bird, Legolas suggested they go to the gardens after lunch. He cradled Harry, whose squawked he could fly, thank you very much, were ignored. Just as Harry was going to call the elf out for being a mother hen, they had arrived and Legolas lowered the phoenix gently lowered onto the grass.

"It's a nice change from the room, isn't it?" the elf commented cheerfully.

"_It is."_ Harry agreed. It was nice, Harry reflected to spend time with the elf like this. Of course, Legolas had to ruin the setting with his next few words.

"Mirkwood is even nicer. You should visit sometime."

Harry huffed. _"For all of your claims of hospitality, the elves haven't been particularly welcoming of me. Why should Mirkwood be any different?" _He replied moodily.

Legolas ruffled the bird's feathers. "Well, I am the prince there. So I can tell everyone to stand down." He smiled disarmingly. "And if that doesn't work, all you have to do is start singing. They wouldn't be able to resist a voice such as yours." In a more serious tone, the elf continued. "You don't have to if you are so opposed to the idea. But I would like to show you my home."

Sensing the elf's dejected tone, Harry's heart lurched. It couldn't be that bad – and Legolas did have some fair points. _"I guess I could stop by sometime."_ He cautiously amended.

A brilliant smile met his words. "Thank you, Eclipse. I know you're cautious around strangers, but I've come to care deeply for you over the course of our journey. I don't want it to end with farewells. I've also noticed…" the elf hesitated. "I've noticed that you seem very alone at times. And you should know that Gandalf, Gimli and I are always here for you; but you might also do well with more friends. Not that I'm saying you need friends!" He added, as Harry's eyes narrowed. "What I mean to say: I want you to be happy, Eclipse."

While Harry had become defensive at the first criticism of his lifestyle, his angry retort died away with Legolas' last admission. Given the elf's honesty, Harry thought he could give him the same. "_I'm sorry. The war – my war," _he amended_, "has made it hard for me to open up. So many died… I keep expecting to wake up alone again. But since being with the company, I'm beginning to see that maybe isolation is not the answer. I can't promise I'll get.. I'll get happier overnight, but I'll try. Starting with these other elves. I just wish…" _

Legolas of course picked up on his trailing admission. The problem with thought speech was that you can't mumble, Harry thought accusingly. The elf didn't even asked, he just looked at Eclipse with eyes bubbling full of concern. Curse those eyes.

"_It's stupid."_ Harry ground out begrudgingly. _"It's just… my kind lives for a while. More than a while actually. The more people I meet means the more I have to watch pass away. I just… don't know how I'll handle that."_ He stared off at a cloud, trying to get control of his emotions. While Voldemort sought immortality, Harry was terrified by the idea he might be immortal. At the time, he and Hermione started looking up phoenix deaths. The Killing Curse only triggered an early Burning Day, and there was no known lifespan for a phoenix. Hermione thought that Harry could kill himself through a more conventional way, but neither was willing to try at that point so they adopted a wait and see approach. But with his recent burning day, it looked like Harry had the characteristics of a true phoenix.

"Which is why you should live with the elves!" Legolas cried out. "We are immortal too. You would not be an oddity there. And should you ever wish to move on, you could join me across the sea."

His words shocked Harry to the core. Now that he thought about it, the idea that Legolas was immortal was not a new one. Perhaps Gandalf had mentioned it in their first meeting? But Harry had been set on ignoring the fellowship and staying uninvolved, so it hadn't really registered. "_You are all immortal? Truly?_"

"Yes." Legolas smiled at him understandingly. "We know how different mortals see the world. While they are welcome in our halls, most of our kin and brethren ignore most mortal affairs for how fleetingly they appear and then vanish. You would not fear the quick passage of time, if you stayed at an Elven house. Of course, I will continue to travel and visit Gimli, Aragorn and other friends I have made in my journey. And I will likely visit their children and their children. But I will do so knowing that there are others – my whole race – who will still be there against the passage of time."

Harry felt a strange emotion bubbling up in his chest. Hope. Perhaps there was some reason to stick around.

That night, as Harry prepared to sleep, he dreamed of ageless forests and elven voices raised in song.

* * *

A/N: I'm alive! And writing again, as you can see. This is unbeta-ed so any corrections are appreciated!


	21. Conquering

Disclaimer: I did not create Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. If only!

* * *

Though Legolas fretted this morning, Harry was determined to be off. Morning was the best time to explore the land of shadows after all. His bones still ached a bit but it was much better than yesterday. Of course, he would not be telling the elf that.

"_I'm fine, Legolas. It is a simple reconnaissance mission, after all. I'll be back before you know it_."

"Yes, stop pestering him. You'd think you're his mother!" Gimli cried out in support. "He's done it before." Having said that, the dwarf pulled Eclipse aside and muttered, "But you should do everything in your power to get back soon. He's a nightmare when he frets." Gimli gave Harry a significant look.

Having been quickly briefed about the missing warriors, there was nothing left to wait for. Harry threw a final farewell towards the small group that came to see him off and vaulted out the window.

The air was glorious beneath his wings. It felt wonderful to stretch them after two days of inactivity. In short time, Harry was gliding over Minas Morgul and on the way to Barad-dûr. Legolas had told him more of the former tower; for Harry had not known its sordid history as home of Sauron. The ground around the area still lay cracked and barren – but a few shoots of green were finally starting to make a stand against the landscape.

Out of the rubble, the ground sloped downwards into a cavern. Harry dived in without hesitation.

As soon as he passed into the shadows, the temperature dropped and Harry suppressed a shiver. It wasn't the air that caused this, he knew. There was something dark, very dark down here. It almost felt like… He shook his head. It couldn't be.

He saw no sign of the men or dwarves for the first room. A few orc carcasses lay scattered about, but they looked to be from the time of the war. He continued flying silently down a long tunnel. As he continued, the feeling of wrongness grew more powerful – yet the darkness also began to whisper to him, with promises of power and riches waiting.

He definitely had a bad feeling about this. It reminded him of a horcrux – yet more persuasive, if it managed to reach this far from its source. He had little hope left for the missing warriors, but Harry couldn't turn around. Mere men would not be able to resist this siren's call. More would die unless Harry stopped it. And he did have experience horcrux hunting; how different could this be?

Eventually, the tunnel began sloping upwards and the bodies of the men and dwarves appeared. It was worse though: they appeared to have been half transformed into failed shadow creatures. They had been winning the battle, but the source remained, Harry realized.

Suddenly, a cavernous hall opened up. It had high vaulted ceilings, from which the barest cracks of light shown through. Shadows danced across the walls and the feeling of evil felt stronger than ever. Perfect, thought Eclipse as he took in all of the shady patches, yet my advantage will also be theirs.

The persuasive part of darkness intensified and buzzed in his ears like angry bees. There was movement against the far wall. Then a voice… a voice that Harry knew better than his own.

"Harry Potter. We finally meet." Came a serpentine hiss.

Harry reared back as if struck. He almost shadow jumped away from surprise but sheer instinct made him act as he always had: to stand his ground against Voldemort.

"_Riddle."_ He replied, thankful that the phoenix mind speech couldn't betray his nerves_. "I killed you." _

"Hmm?" Came the lilting response. "Oh yes. Him. You did kill Voldemort, foolish boy. But after all those horcruxes, how could you never notice the one watching? I slept with you, ate with you… But the great Harry Potter never noticed that he carried the thing he most detested. "

Harry had become motionless at this point, his mind racing. He was trying not to take his eyes off the roiling mass of shadows, and of the surrounding darkness… but his mind couldn't keep up with this barrage of information. A horcrux of his own? He wanted to scream his anger and fear. But it would do no good to show weakness so Harry kept his thoughts contained.

Had Hermione been wrong? Had this been why Dumbledore killed him? The more he thought about it, the more pieces seemed to fall into place. To think… He had find out more.

_"If you were with me, how did you become free? You couldn't escape when I was a baby."_ He goaded. Voldemort's biggest weakness had always been his pride.

The shadows seem to loom in size and take up an entire wall. An enraged voice replied, "There were many opportunities, you stupid boy. Every time you've nearly died... but then where would I go? Would I feast on a host like Quirrel? Or better yet, maybe I could possess a unicorn." If shadows could sniff, this one definitely sniffed contemptuously at the thought of Harry's old defense teacher. "But when we arrived here, I sensed a great power." A glint that Harry hadn't noticed before flashed; but it was too small to make out. "You were unconscious and nearly dead, so it was quick work to leave – and what power have I discovered. This world has had few great wizards, but this was the work of a great wizard. A ring, forged of seven."

A ring… Harry had heard of the One Ring, of course, with the retellings of the company's adventures. But seven rings – "_From the dwarves,_" he blurted out with surprise. Had Sauron tried to make a better ring out of the seven?

"I really could care less." A bored voice countered. "However it was made, the ring reeked power. And it has allowed me the greatest power: a body. Your attacks against my minions may have worked for now, but I now can create my own army from any species."

Good Merlin, it seemed Tom was longwinded no matter which form. But while he was at it – _"So the ring has been doing it then? Causing these shadow transformations?"_

A hissing laugh followed his query.

"Ignorant child. As you have gained some of my powers, I have gained yours. The shadows caress me as you may speak the serpent's tongue. And my "shadow" creatures as you call them, were created from none other than _your_ powers. Imagine what your friends will say when they discover the beasts are yours!" the last came out in a sibilant hiss, a sensuous sound that yet reminded harry of chalk screeching across a blackboard. Harry felt his heart stop as he thought of all of those who risked their lives – for something he had inadvertently created. Legolas could have _died_ and it would have been from his horcrux!

The shadows finally coalesced into a being that emerged into the light. A basilisk. It's scales were jet black and glistened in the dappled light.

"Your animagus… it could have gone two ways, you know." A slithering sound began along with a silent, wheezing laugh. "Not that you would know, of course – you always relied on that mudblood to think for you." With a sibilant hissed, the basilisk rose to its full height, completely dwarfing Harry.

"That fateful night, you were bitten and cured by two very powerful beings. It's in your blood. Even then, you fool, even then – your blood could cure the most toxic of wounds or cause them. Channeling that into an animal form only expanded this ability. Yet while you transformed into a _bird_" another drawn hiss of disdain, "I have embraced the king of serpents. Now prepare, Harry Potter, to die."

The giant snake lunged forward, at speeds unimaginable for animals of flesh and blood. But Harry was just as fast, and already melted into the shadows to reappear above off to the side.

"_You always did talk too much, Tom. And you will die just like the other did in the chamber_," he taunted.

The snake snapped at him, quick as lightening, but Harry had already disappeared. He reappeared to hover over the basilisk's head. Harry dropped down like he had seen Fawkes do in his first fight against this monster, but had to veer away at the last minute as Tom sensed his movement. The basilisk reared and lunged again, in a fluid motion, nearly clipping Harry.

Harry appeared behind Tom, and managed to briefly rake his claws against the basilisk's scales, but they scattered off the tough hide. He hadn't counted on Tom's tail knocking the wind out of him and Harry was propelled back against the floor. He quickly disappeared again, and getting above the snake again. This time he had a different plan. Harry began crying, while goading, _"Hey, Tom. Look up."_ The basilisk followed his instructions perfectly, as he glanced up as a tear fell. For a second, Harry thought that his plan hadn't worked and the tears had missed… but then there was a sizzling noise and a bellow of rage as one of the basilisk's eyes melted from the venom.

"You will regret that, Harry Potter!" The snake roared.

Unfortunately, the poison hadn't completely destroyed the snake's gaze and the basilisk lunged upwards with one eye locked on Harry. The phoenix had thought he was high enough above the basilisk, but Voldemort somehow used the shadows to propel himself higher than should have been possible. He crashed into Harry.

Harry couldn't react in time and was flung through the air. His reactions were still sluggish from his recent magical exhaustion and Harry could feel the ache of using the magical poison rising up behind his eyes. He had always assumed this oddity came from being a shadow phoenix... it's not like there was a lot of information on the breed. But maybe it came from his own blood's mixture of phoenix tears and basilisk venom.

Before he could hit the wall, he shadow jumped again, even higher than his last position. No matter where the poison came from, he was going to use it. He started to cry again…but nothing happened. He tried to concentrate harder to summon it but h was so tired.

"As if I'm not aware of your recent exhaustion, phoenix." The snake roared. "You're weak. And you will die here."

The snake lunged once more and as Harry flashed into the shadows, the thing impossibly _followed_ him and they both tumbled to the floor on the far side of the hall, with Harry held tight in the basilisk's coils.

Harry wiggled in its grasp, but the coils only tightened, crushing a wing in the process. He couldn't help a keen of pain.

"At long last," came the laughing voice. The pressure tightened and Harry started seeing black dots swim across his vision. "Though this was not the world I intended to conquer, its inhabitants will do quite nicely. The first to be transformed will be your precious friends. Don't think I didn't know about the wizard, dwarf and elf." The snake's body shook with laughter, jostling Harry and sending more shooting pain up his broken wing.

"They could even be my trusted generals, once the shadows have consumed their mind."

In the growing blackness obscuring his vision, Harry began to see red. He let out a wild wave of wandless magic that blasted him across the room. As the phoenix struggled to stand, the basilisk hissed again. "Well met, Potter. I was hoping you wouldn't give up so soon."

Voldemort was right though; Harry remained extremely drained from his healing. There was no way he could win. But dying here meant leaving Middle Earth open to a monster worse than Sauron. And besides… Legolas' face swam into view. He had his own reasons to keep living now.

The basilisk rocketed forward again, mouth open to crush the broken bird. When it's jaw clamped down, it met flesh – but it could not swallow.

"What?" Voldemort cried out – or would have, if his mouth were free. Instead, the basilisk had sunk its fangs into the tail of another tough hide. It looked up, in time to see another basilisk glaring right back. Then it lunged, going straight for the head.

Fangs sank down over eyes, and then pierced into a soft brain. Poison, the natural defense of a basilisk, not a phoenix, leaked out. With a shudder, Tom screamed and trashed. But this was worse than his eye injury, the venom was coursing through his body – then slumped over, dead.

The shadows wrapping Voldemort shrank and a small, black body appeared. It resembled the baby that Voldemort had been before Wormtail's ritual. On one of its pudgy fingers glinted a ring. It whispered promises in Harry's mind, telling him how he could overpower any evil that might threaten Middle Earth, if only he slipped it on. Harry lowered his head to examine the metal. Tom was right: it did appear to be seven rings, fused together. Harry carefully opened his mouth and let more venom drip onto the metal bands.

They hissed and sizzled – then melted into normal gold.

Harry felt woozy. Just like his poison could affect Tom, so too could he feel Tom's bite coursing through his body. It would be so easy to go to sleep and ignore it…

But as he was willing to embrace his greatest fear – the clearest proof of his dark tendencies and Slytherin affiliation in the form of a basilisk – so too could he not give up just yet. There were people waiting on him. With a groan, he willed himself back as a human. It was slow going – the basilisk did not want to relinquish its freedom. But Harry could accept – would accept – this form if it meant he could live to see Legolas again. Slowly, an exhausted man appeared on the cold flagstones. With a sharp crack, he vanished.

* * *

A/N: So... plot twist! What do you think? I wanted to give more background into Harry's form and why he had it.

And can you believe another update came this quickly!? I've got one more chapter in the works.. but then I might need inspiration after that. Your comments are always inspiration to pick this story back up. Please read and review!


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